Hypertrichosis portrayes in art.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
J G Ravin
Publications and source records attributed to J G Ravin.
From von Graefe's clinic to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The meteoric career of Richard Liebreich.
Richard Liebreich was a student of Helmholtz and took one of the first ophthalmoscopes to von Graefe's clinic. While von Graefe's assistant in Berlin, he created the first atlas of ophthalmoscopy. Liebreich moved to Paris, where he achieved great success, due in part to successful surgery on Emperor Napoleon III's mother-in-law. After the fall of Napoleon in 1870, Liebreich moved to London, where he became the head of ophthalmology at St. Thomas hospital and medical school. Following several personal attacks in the medical literature, Liebreich returned to Paris, where he gradually retired from practice, yet continued a creative life as a sculptor, painter, and researcher in artistic technique.
England↗
Queen Victoria, her physicians, and her cataracts.
Decreasing vision due to cataracts became a significant problem for Queen Victoria toward the end of the 19th century. Her personal physician, Sir James Reid, obtained consultations with two eminent British ophthalmologists, George Lawson and Edward Nettleship. The Queen was not satisfied, and requested an opinion from the German professor Hermann Pagenstecher. All the doctors agreed on the diagnosis, but the Queen never underwent surgery.
Cataract↗
Degas' loss of vision: evidence for a diagnosis of retinal disease.
The Impressionist artist Degas suffered severely from loss of vision. He described this many times in his letters. His correspondence and his notebooks mention three ophthalmologists. Degas' words and those of acquaintances, as well as his artistic works, reveal important information about his vision, which allows us to draw conclusions about the cause of his problem.
Blindness↗
An artist with a color vision defect: Charles Meryon.
Charles Meryon, an important artist of the 19th century, had a congenital defect in color vision. Meryon recognized this defect during his study of art, and he gradually gave up painting in favor of etching. This biographical article includes reproductions of some of Meryon's etchings and one oil painting. "Ghost Ship." Two palates display the principal colors of the spectrum, as seen normally and as seen with a color vision defect. "Ghost Ship" reveals the color-defective artist's typical preference for blue and yellow.
Art↗
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: the author was an ophthalmologist.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, and his faithful companion, Dr. Watson. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Doyle (1859-1930) spent nearly ten years practicing medicine. During his years in general practice, Doyle gave particular attention to the eye. Later, he studied ophthalmology in Vienna and spent time with the best known ophthalmologist in Paris. He returned to London and established an ophthalmological office near Harley Street. His literary career soon overtook the medical career, but he made many references to medicine, and to ophthalmology in particular in his writings.
England↗
In the kingdom of the Shah: Treacher Collins' Persian adventure.
Early in his career, the British ophthalmologist Edward Treacher Collins (1862-1932) was asked to travel to Persia to evaluate the ocular problems of the Shah's eldest son. On the evening of his wedding, Collins and his bride left England to go on this great adventure. Collins was able to provide expert care to the Persian royal family and to many commoners. The success of this Persian tour helped Collins reach the highest level of British ophthalmology.
History, 19th Century↗
What ailed Goya?
At age 46, Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) suffered from a severe illness that lasted several months. It caused loss of vision and hearing, tinnitus, disorientation, weakness, abdominal distress, and general malaise. After a few months he recuperated but was left deaf forever. In addition to the physical effects, his emotional health and artwork were affected. The precise cause of this illness has long been debated. One early, but unlikely, hypothesis was that he had syphilis. Later conjectures have included Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and lead toxicity. Cogan's syndrome and vasculitis are additional possibilities, although neither is likely to have been Goya's diagnosis. An infectious disease such as meningitis, encephalitis, or malaria is far more likely. Quinine toxicity (cinchonism) may have complicated the illness.
Blindness↗
Fetal alcohol syndrome.
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Abnormalities, Multiple↗
The case of the blind sculptor.
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Animals↗
Eye disease among the impressionists: Monet, Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro.
1. Many of the most famous artists working in France late in the 19th century suffered serious eye diseases. 2. The case reports of Monet, Cassatt, Degas, and Pissarro are interesting because of the light they shed on important artists and their methods of dealing with adversity. 3. These case reports also can be useful in consoling patients who have similar problems today.
Eye Diseases↗