Tag Archives: medicine

Il Guercino

By | |
Comments Off on Il Guercino

Timken Museum
Balboa Park
November 24, 2019

Recently Meredith discovered the 17th century Italian painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri through a blog post featuring one of his paintings of the Annunciation.  The Angelus Project blog posts a new image of the Annunciation each week.  Barbieri is better known by his nickname “Il Guercino.”

She wanted to know more about Barbieri, and started with the Wikipedia article about him.  Apparently guercino is Italian for “squint-eyed.”  His Wikipedia entry has an image done by a contemporary artist, Ottavio Leoni, that shows Barbieri’s right eye crossing in, a form of strabismus (an umbrella term for several types of misalignment of the eyes).  Also intriguing was a link in that Wikipedia article to a medical journal article exploring whether Leonardo da Vinci may have had strabismus.  Other famous artists with various types of strabismus may include Rembrandt, Dürer, Degas, and Picasso.

We shared this information with our optometrist daughter, who told us that she had been discussing strabismic artists, particularly painters, with a colleague recently.  She was struck by the observation that paintings represent a 3D world in a 2D medium, and that translating three dimensions down to two may be easier for people who already see the world in two dimensions because of their strabismus.

Soon after that discussion we were visiting the Timken and discovered that there is a painting in their permanent collection by Barbieri, of the parable of the Prodigal Son.  In that parable, the father who welcomes back the errant son represents God forgiving sinners.  Luke 15:11-32.  A docent at the Timken explained to us that in addition to illustrating the original Gospel story, the painting also represents the Catholic Church of the Counter-Reformation, ready to welcome back Protestants.

The Life in Your Years

By | |
Comments Off on The Life in Your Years

A British study published this month found that people who visit museums and art galleries regularly live longer. Other engagement with the arts, such as attending theater performances or the opera, had a similar beneficial effect. Over half the association is independent of factors that could explain the link such as wealth, mobility, and mental health.

We first saw the study reported in the December 22, 2019 New York Times, but their online paywall is a nuisance to navigate; a write up can also be seen on CNN’s website.

Researchers from University College London reviewed data from more than 6,000 adults in England age 50 years and older, who were taking part in a wider study on aging and who were followed for 12 years on average. They found that people who engaged in the arts more frequently — every few months or more — had a 31% lower risk of dying early compared to those who did not. Even going to the theater or museum once or twice a year was linked with a 14% lower risk.

Why? It is not clear, but one researcher commented that “engaging with the arts can act as a buffer against stress and build creativity that allows people to adapt to changing circumstances. It also helps people build social capital — accessing emotional support and information that helps people age more successfully. We also thought that a greater sense of purpose could play a role.”

New Year’s resolution: visit more museums!