Botticelli’s Venus may have died after rape caused brain rupture, scientists discover
Scientists believe the Renaissance beauty who inspired Botticelli’s Venus painting may have died of a brain rupture caused by rape.
Simonetta Vespucci was famous in 15th-century Florence for her looks, charm, and intelligence, and is believed to have inspired both The Birth of Venus and Primavera, two of the best-known works of Renaissance art.
His death in 1476, at the age of 23, is said to have been painful and protracted; because he gradually succumbs to headache, vomiting, fever and hallucinations.
Although doctors at the time believed he had tuberculosis, experts now think his brain tumor may have ruptured.
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London believe the tear may have been caused by a violent sexual assault or sudden movements made during dancing.
Paolo Pozzilli, senior author of the study, said: ‘The violent act of the rape may have accelerated the rupture of the lining of her already tumorous pituitary gland, leading to her death.’
They believe that the symptoms he experienced before his death may have been caused by pituitary tumor apoplexy; This occurs when an existing tumor bleeds or swells rapidly.
Experts say it is the Duke of Calabria, King Naples II. She believes it was due to the rapid movement during which she was raped by Alfonso or the fast dancing.
Italian researcher Giovanna Strano, whose work Queen Mary academics rely on, said: ‘A contemporary source reports that, shortly before Vespucci’s death, she was raped by Alfonso, notorious for violence against women, while she sought refuge from the heat on the banks of the River Arno in Florence.’
Simonetta Vespucci was famous for her looks, charm and intelligence in 15th-century Florence and is believed to have inspired Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus
Scientists believe Botticelli’s muse may have died from rape-related brain rupture
Experts said the paralysis may have been caused by a dance that required ‘fast movements and jumps’.
They said: ‘Given that he collapsed during the ball, mechanical trauma from repeated bounces… may have hastened the onset of bleeding.’
Pozzilli also said that Venus’ famous strabismus may have been caused by a brain tumor.
In their study, the researchers used a facial recognition algorithm on five portraits of Simonetta.
The results revealed several signs that it was a pituitary adenoma.
This is a common, benign tumor that grows in the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.
“It is possible that the irregular eye positioning in The Birth of Venus (“strabismus” or squint, later considered an attribute of piety and beauty) was caused by a pituitary tumor,” Pozzilli said.
In the new study, the team explored a series of documents and concluded that expansion of the adenoma causing tumor apoplexy (a sudden medical emergency) was the likely cause of his death.
The lead author of the study, Dr. “Letters between Piero Vespucci and Lorenzo de Medici about Simonetta’s last days describe how she collapsed during a ball and then suffered terrible headaches, hallucinations, vomiting and high fever in a dark room,” said Domiziana Nardelli.
‘These are all symptoms of a rapidly expanding pituitary tumor.’
To confirm this diagnosis, the researchers used a facial recognition algorithm based on a deep learning model pre-trained on five portraits of Simonetta.
The results pointed not only to squinting but also to breastfeeding, another symptom of a brain tumor.
Dr Nardelli explained: ‘Botticelli’s portrait of the Allegorical Woman shows a woman, the model Simonetta Vespucci, breastfeeding, but we know she never had children.
‘This is a surprising way to describe it and we believe that this – together with the changes in facial features – may indicate actual physical symptoms of prolactin growth hormone-secreting adenoma.’
This isn’t the first time an artist has quietly depicted a health condition in his paintings.
Botticelli’s Allegorical Woman portrait shows Simonetta with her eyes closed and breastfeeding – two signs of pituitary adenoma
In 2024, researchers from Paris-Saclay University detected signs of breast cancer in a woman featured in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel masterpiece ‘The Flood’.
In 2024, researchers from Paris-Saclay University detected signs of breast cancer in a woman featured in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel masterpiece ‘The Flood’.
This included a deformed nipple and a slight lump on her breast that was ‘consistent with a lump’.
Researchers believe that the representation of breast cancer may be a message about the inevitability of death.
“Michelangelo’s depiction in “The Flood” brings to mind features of breast cancer,” the researchers wrote in their study.
‘The evidence of pathology is fully supported by the symbolism and theological meaning underlying this representation of life and death.’
