Originally published February 23 2006
New research shows achievement can be influenced by disease
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A clinical pathologist from the University of California said the associations between illness and art may be related because of the physical limitations and mental adaptations they cause. Michelangelo had symptoms of gout and bipolar disorder.
New research in fields as diverse as music, art, science and literature suggests that we're wrong to think that great men and women achieve despite disease.
Their illness in many cases is a path, rather than an obstacle, to genius.
"Illness has affected the artistic achievement of musical composers, classical painters, creative authors, and sculptors," says Paul Wolf, a clinical pathologist from the University of California, who specialises in investigating the effects of disease and drugs on the creativity and productivity of sculptors, painters, composers and authors.
According to Dr Wolf, Michelangelo had symptoms of gout and bipolar disorder, a form of manic-depressive mental illness.
He painted more than 400 figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, and Dr Wolf says that his paintings mirror his depression.
According to reports by researchers from the St Louis University School of Medicine, in Missouri, cataracts appear to have been a particular affliction of the early Impressionists.
This plethora of cataracts among artists of this time has led to the concept that Impressionism is the world seen through cataracts.
The researchers say that those who influenced the Impressionists were also affected by cataracts, and give JMW Turner as an example, while several of the works of the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch depict a large floater which obstructed his vision towards the end of his life.
The artist developed a condition called diabetic retinopathy, which causes blue-green colour-blindness, and may account for some of his colour choices in later paintings, which became more subdued.
Much of the research on disease and creativity has centred on historical cases, but a remarkable case reported two years ago by American neurologists from the University of California, at Davis, and published in the medical journal Neurology, shows how artistic skills can evolve from disease.
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