Claw hand in a Renaissance portrait

Abstract

was one of the best portraitists of the 16th century. We believe that his portrait of Bartolomeo Panciatichi would be of particular interest for neurologists.Bartolomeo Panciatichi (1507-82), a French diplomat and a poet, eventually settled in Florence. 1 Although Bartolomeo Panciatichi does not look young in his portrait, he was only 33 years old by the time Bronzino completed the painting in 1540 (figure). The difference between his right and left hands is quite obvious. The left hand shows the ring and small fingers curled, probably involuntarily, and wasting of the interosseous muscles. This appearance is a characteristic resting hand position, known as claw hand. The ulnar nerve innervates the flexor digitorum profundus and the lumbricals to the

The Babinski sign in Renaissance paintings—a reappraisal of the toe phenomenon in representations of the Christ Child: observational analysis

“…Nevertheless, many great painters such as Raphael, known to have an eye for the finest details of their subjects, almost never depicted the Christ Child with an upgoing toe. Many Renaissance painters were aware of medical and anatomical realities; neurological abnormalities such as ulnar claw or facial dystonia appear in Renaissance paintings,1314 and some painters, such as Michelangelo and da Vinci, did anatomical dissections. However, this pursuit of anatomical knowledge seems not to have been a determining factor for the depiction of the Babinski sign in painting; da Vinci, who was an anatomist and contributed to the study of the nervous system,15 depicted the Babinski sign in only 22% (2/9) of his paintings of the Christ Child.…”

Skin abnormalities in the Finnish National Gallery

“…On the other hand, subjective interpretation by the physician of the painter's interpretation of the models’ appearance is unavoidable . Besides, unilateral analysis without putting work of art in their proper artistic and historical context exposes to erroneous explanations …”