New study suggests Michelangelo suffered from chronic osteoarthritis in his hands

Michelangelo, the Renaissance artists and architect, is said to have developed osteoarthritis in his hands in his later years, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The study, led by Davide Lazzeri, a specialist in plastic reconstructive and aesthetic surgery at the Villa Salaria Clinic in Rome, of three of paintings of Michelangelo, between the ages of 60 and 65, have revealed that the small joints in his left hand appear to be affected by degenerative changes – while earlier portraits of the artist show no such signs of deformity.

Several organic diseases and various psychological/behavioural disorders have been attributed to the artist over the ears. One line of thinking was that he suffered from gout, revealed in vast correspondence with his nephew. However, “gout” was an ill-defined general term of the period, which encompassed all arthritic conditions.

In this new study, the focus was mainly on the disease that affected the Master’s hands. Reviewing the portraits, including Jacopo del Conte’s portrait of Michelangelo, the researchers said that the hypothesis of gouty arthritis of the hands as the main cause of the pain in the artist’s hand can be dismissed, mainly because no signs of inflammation and no tophi can be seen in the extremities.

Michelangelo continued to sculpt and paint while suffering from osteoarthritis, which left his fingers twisted into bony protrusions, bought on potentially by the extensive hammering and chiselling carried out by the artist when creating his masterpieces. Letters reveal he was still “hammering” six days before his death.

The study says, “Michelangelo’s difficulties with tasks such as writing may have resulted from stiffness of the thumb and the loss of the ability to abduct, flex and adduct it. The swellings at the base of the thumb and the swellings of the smaller joints of the thumb and index are not gouty in origin; they may be interpreted as osteoarthritic nodules.”

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