Pituitary neuroendocrine tumour and strabismus in a young woman who died in 1476

Revisiting diagnosis through art is a novel concept for scientific research. During the Renaissance, wealthy families, such as the Medicis, supported the careers of artists like Sandro Botticelli to produce works of exceptional artistic quality and anatomical detail. One of Botticelli’s known muses was Simonetta Vespucci, who died in 1476 at age 23, historically suspected of tuberculosis. Here, we characterise a large functioning pituitary neuroendocrine tumour in Simonetta as the primary cause of her depicted strabismus and her premature death.

15th century · case histories · History of medicine · medieval medicine · pituitary neuroendocrine tumors · Strabismus · History of Medicine Studies · Ophthalmology and Eye Disorders · Pituitary Gland Disorders and Treatments