Chapter 9 - The lead-poisoned genius: Saturnism in famous artists across five centuries
Section snippets
Preindustrial historical perspective of extraction and lead poisoning
The use of lead has long been known by mankind. Perhaps, the first records of its use are the lead-rich pigments used in prehistoric cave paintings. Likewise, lead has been mined since ancient times. The oldest known mining site is situated in Turkey and dates back to 8000–6500 BC. There is a lead necklace from the Anatolian city of similar antiquity. Lead was widely used by Egyptians, Jews, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. Furthermore, its toxicity was known in ancient times. It has
Poisoned painters
I have already mentioned the first ornamental trace of lead use by man found in cave paintings (Ibrahim et al., 2006). Votive objects made from this metal were found in Egyptian and Minoan tombs, and in the ancient city (now in Turkey) of Troy (Waldron, 1973). In relation to painters, the expression “to be as crazy as a painter,” however, seems to have become popular at a later date, perhaps five or so centuries ago. In De Morbis Artificum Diatriba, a book published in 1713 by Bernardinus
Musician connections
For the sake of a more complete “picture,” the point should be made that lead poisoning might also have affected some very famous musicians. Thus, without overdoing it, a few words should be said about Handel and Beethoven, two master composers who some historians have been suspected might have suffered from lead poisoning.
Conclusions
At the current time, and although we have advanced much with respect to understanding lead poisoning, a danger of exposure still exists (Fields, 1997, Kathuria et al., 2012, MacDonald, 2004) with significant manifestations (Bellinger, 2011). In 2005, 10,031 workers in the United Kingdom were exposed to significant amounts of lead and placed under medical scrutiny (Bradberry and Vale, 2007). In Spain, there were 91 adults hospitalizations (with 1 death) due to lead poisoning from diverse sources
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