The Stendhal Syndrome
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The Stendhal Syndrome
A syndrome is a set of simultaneous symptoms that manifest a disease.
And the Stendhal syndrome is the set of physical reactions such as palpitations, vertigo, weakness, spatio-temporal disorientation, choking, and tremors, that one manifests when exposed to extreme beauty.
It has to do with the fact that beauty can be disturbing.
What is the origin of the name? Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri Beyle), one of the greatest writers of all time and a fundamental representative of psychological realism, is the one who “suffered” this syndrome when confronted with the beauty of the Basilica of Santa Croce (that is why we illustrate the publication with an image of the high altar of that basilica) and described it this way in his book Naples and Florence: A journey from Milan to Reggio:
“I had reached that point of emotion where heavenly sensations of the Fine Arts meet passionate feelings.
As I emerged from Santa Croce, I had palpitations of the heart, life was drained from me, I walked in fear of falling.”
The Stendhal syndrome is also called the Florence syndrome. And that is not only because Stendhal experienced it in that city, but also because the accumulation of beauty in that city is such that many travelers experience these uncommon emotions.
In short, we could explain it with the same three words with which the doctor diagnosed Stendhal at the time when he treated him after suffering from the Florence syndrome:
“overdose of beauty.”
Image: High Altar of the Basilica of Santa Croce. Florence
Recommended links:
The concept “the medium is the message” (and the evolution of its meaning).
The direct experience and its importance for modern art.
Artistic Movements I: from Classical Antiquity to Rococo.
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