Stroke in Renaissance Time: The Case of Francesco I de’ Medici

• Published in: Cerebrovascular diseases (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 589 - 593
• Main Authors: Arba, Francesco, Inzitari, Domenico, Barnett, Henry Joseph Macaulay, Lippi, Donatella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.06.2012
• Subjects: Cause of Death; de Medici; Francesco I de Medici; Historical Paper; History, 16th Century; Humans; Italy; Male; Paintings - history; Politics; Stroke - etiology; Stroke - history; Syphilis - complications; Syphilis - history; Treponema pallidum; Italy; Disability; Renaissance; Medici family
• DOI: 10.1159/000338667
• ISSN: 1015-9770

Francesco I de’ Medici (1541–1587), the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, was one of the members of the Medici family who ruled Florence during the centuries of the Renaissance. When, in 1857, all members of the Medici family were exhumed and definitively buried in the place where they still lie buried today, a painter, Giuseppe Moricci (Florence 1806–1879), who attended the ceremony, depicted the corpse of Francesco I in a perfect state of preservation. The painting shows a right spastic hemiparesis with a facial droop, a claw-hand appearance, the right shoulder internally rotated, the calf muscle wasted and the clubfoot confirmed by an orthopedic footwear in the coffin. The hemiparesis and consequent disability were likely concealed when Francesco I was alive, since in official portraits the Grand Duke appeared in perfect physical condition. However, chronicles reported that he had suffered from malaria and syphilis. Later in his life, temper and behavioral changes as well as emotional instability were documented, together with handwriting deterioration and seizures. We postulate that Francesco I had suffered from a stroke consequent to syphilis, a new aggressive and rapidly spreading infectious disease at that time in Italy. Francesco’s governmental skills were presumably altered due to these diseases. Disability consequent to stroke was likely concealed by official portrayers and biographers of Francesco I during his life, consistent with the King’s two bodies theory common since the Middle Ages: while the King’s physical body is destined to die, the political one is everlasting. Infectious diseases have remained a leading cause of stroke in underdeveloped countries until recently, but noncommunicable causes are now prevailing worldwide.