Stendhal Syndrome: Devastated by Beauty

Beauty is a kind of rousing, symphonic climax, it’s explosive, in art it is an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace. An individual can be so moved by work of art that he is shaken to tears effected by the outrageous beauty emanating from the work that he/she is looking at, but the question is “at what price?”. This brings us to the Stendhal syndrome.

     Stendhal's syndrome or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations, allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects, artworks, or phenomena of great beauty. This means that a person could literally lose consciousness or pass out when exposed to beautiful artworks. 

     This condition is named after the the 19th century French Author Stendhal (pseudonym of Marie-Henrie Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence in his book Naples and Florence: A journey from Milan to Reggio. When he visited the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Niccolo Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei are buried, he was overcome with profound emotion.

Stendhal wrote:

I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty... I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations... Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call ‘nerves'. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling. 

There is substantial evidence that Stendhal syndrome is real and unique to Florence. In 1979, Dr. Graziella Magherini worked  as the Chief of Psychiatry at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. After observing more than 100 tourists who were hospitalized after looking at art in Florence, she coined the term Stendhal syndrome. In 1989, she published a book La Sindrome di Stendhal, about these tourists, who experienced a range of symptoms that included anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, and even psychotic episodes – all after seeing renowned artwork. Describing the patients she observed, Magherini said they were sensitive, emotional people who essentially “overdosed on art". Because Florence has so much famous artwork on display, tourists tend to squeeze in as much art as they can in a few days. Victims are typically impressionable, single people between 26 and 40 years old, who are stressed by travel and may be struggling with jetlag. Of the people she studied who were hospitalized, about half had prior treatment for mental illness, although “prior treatment” could simply mean that someone attended weekly therapy sessions.

So why Florence? Some cases of Stendhal syndrome have occurred in other Italian cities with stunning artwork, but Magherini says that Florence is the locus because it has the most Renaissance Art, which is superficially beautiful and recognizable but often contains darker, disturbing details. Magherini notes that art can provoke subconscious feelings and memories in sensitive viewers. After a few days of rest, or better yet, leaving Italy and resuming their normal lives, patients usually recover fully.

     Stendhal syndrome does not currently appear in the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Psychiatrists have, however, documented the syndrome in medical journals and advise that tourists pace themselves in art museums and get enough rest in between viewings of Italy’s breathtaking, powerful masterpieces.