Vertigo from art will never happen to a person far from a sense of beauty, unfamiliar with the cultural heritage and unable to perceive the aesthetics of painting. Stendhal's syndrome is a disease of aesthetes who feel the greatness of creativity very subtly and deeply.
Stendhal's Syndrome - a keen sense of beauty
Such an extraordinary illness as Stendhal's syndrome is a special psychosomatic disorder that causes a person to immerse themselves too deeply in works of art, forgetting about reality and perceiving as it is what is depicted on canvas.
The name Stendhal syndrome received from the great classic of French literature - Henri Stendhal. This writer was notable only for his brilliant works (for example, the novel "Red and Black"), but also an extreme sensitivity to the beautiful and impressionable. Once Stendhal visited Florence and went to the church of the Holy Cross. It is famous for its adorable frescoes executed by Giotto's hand, and is also a tomb for the greatest Italians: Machiavelli, Galileo, Michelangelo and some others. The writer was so impressed with this amazing place that he almost lost consciousness when he left the church.
Later, Stendhal himself admitted that the impression was too great and large-scale. Observing the greatest works of art, the writer suddenly felt the frailty of all things, the limited reality. He so clearly felt the artist's passion for his creations, which instantly overestimated everything around him. This state was not only exposed to the writer, but also to hundreds of tourists visiting Florence.
Stendhal's syndrome: symptoms
Stendhal's syndrome is a rare disease and peculiar only to the cultural elite of society. The risk group includes people aged 25 to 40 years who are familiar with culture and history, long dreamed of a trip and meeting with a particular cultural monument or a work of art.
This psychosomatic disorder is easily distinguishable from the others due to many very specific symptoms. Among them you can list the following:
- strong palpitations;
- feeling of lack of support underfoot;
- dizziness;
- delirium and hallucinations.
The peculiarity of the symptoms is that it arises directly near the great art objects. In some cases, this condition is so severe that it causes vivid hallucinations in a person, disorientates it up to complete misunderstanding, where it is located and what is happening.
Immunity to Stendhal's Syndrome
Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini became interested in this phenomenon, studied and described more than 100 cases in which people experienced a similar condition. As a result of her activities, she managed to identify some interesting patterns. For example, she named several groups of people who showed a strong immunity to Stendhal's syndrome:
- tourists from North America, whose culture is recognized by other authorities;
- tourists from Asia, with the culture of which Florence has nothing to do;
- Italian tourists who get used to this atmosphere from an early age and take it for granted.
The risk group turned out to be a large number of people from other European countries, and especially single people who received a classical higher or religious education. The more a person was concentrated on the sensation of the beautiful, the stronger the symptoms were. As a rule, the culmination occurred while visiting one of the fifty greatest museums of the cradle of the Renaissance - Florence.