A medical misdiagnosis may have cost Renaissance painter Raphael his life.
In April 1520, at the age of 37, he died only eight days after contracting a fever.
A new study by historians at the University of Milan Bicocca published in a journal of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine states that the ancient practice of bloodletting, where blood is withdrawn from a patient to cure disease, contributed to his death.
The study described the commonly held assumption that Raphael died because of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis as a “myth”. Other presumed causes, such as typhoid and malaria, were deemed invalid as well.
Reading up on the final weeks of Raphael's life, the historians turned to the book The Lives of the Artists by 16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari. In it, the writer portrayed Raphael as a man who had many trysts. These characterisations bolstered the notion that the painter may have died from a sexually transmitted disease.
Vasari wrote that while he was ill, Raphael did not tell physicians about his trips out in the middle of the night. These night-time excursions could have caused his illness. “It was much, much colder in March in that period, and it's very likely he caught pneumonia,” Michele Augusto Riva, medical historian and co-author of the study, told AFP.
Raphael’s physician at the time, however, attributed the artist’s fever to an “excess of humours”, or blood and bodily fluids, and proceeded to withdraw his blood via incisions or leeches. The procedure would have weakened him, leading to his death.
Riva explained that physicians at the time would not have used bloodletting for diseases of the lungs. However, she said that since Raphael had failed to share his movements, he was misdiagnosed and doctors would have “act[ed] on misinformation”.
“A medical mistake, and his own mistake in not faithfully recounting his history, contributed to Raphael’s death,” Riva said.
During the artist’s illness he was able to prepare a will, confess his sins to a priest and receive his last rites. A celebrated artist during his time, sharing the ranks of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael was given a large, stately funeral at the Vatican.
His body is buried at the Pantheon in Rome.
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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