The veiled intimacy between neurology and Vincent van Gogh

B Kusznir Vitturi; W Luiz Sanvito

doi:10.1016/j.neurol.2020.10.010

The veiled intimacy between neurology and Vincent van Gogh

Rev Neurol (Paris). 2021 Jun;177(6):615-618. doi: 10.1016/j.neurol.2020.10.010. Epub 2021 Feb 18.

Authors

B Kusznir Vitturi¹, W Luiz Sanvito²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: z_azul@hotmail.com.
² Department of Neurology, Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil.

PMID: 33612287
DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2020.10.010

Abstract

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is one of the most important painters of our history. Celebrating 130 years since the death of this genius, this article unveils the surprising relationship between van Gogh and neurology. Besides all his eternal artistic output, Vincent also suffered all his life from a neurological disease. Many articles have already investigated his illness and epilepsy appears to be one of the most reasonable diagnosis. There is much evidence that van Gogh's work was influenced by his neurological condition in several ways. Besides, the analysis of Vincent's life can provide several valuable teachings to neurologists.

Keywords: Art; Epilepsy; History of neurology; Neurology; van Gogh.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Epilepsy*
Famous Persons*
Humans
Neurologists
Neurology
Paintings*