Stendhal Syndrome: Just an Illusion?

Since this week I have focused on Wellness in both My Life and My Blog Posts, I wanted us to ponder this – Have you ever been so overwhelmed by something that you have to sit down for fear of fainting? Been so moved by a view that you feel your pulse quicken? When it comes to art, beauty comes in all forms and shapes. So much so that there is a condition in relation to what art makes us feel. It’s called Stendhal Syndrome, and it’s not without controversy.

Stendhal Syndrome

Named after the 19th century author Stendhal, the syndrome is defined as a physical reaction to art; heart palpitations, fainting, and dizziness are all symptoms of this.

There has long been a debate as to whether or not this condition actually exists. Nevertheless, there have been casualties while this debate has raged on. Hospitals in Florence, Italy, for instance, have been dealing with the fallout of Stendhal syndrome for years. At the Florence Santa Maria Nuova hospital the staff have grown used to treating tourists who, after viewing some of the local museums have become dizzy and disorientated while on their weekend break to Florence. To get to the bottom of all this, scientists began measuring visitors’ reactions at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. The results were inconclusive, of course.

Is it real?

This is the question scientist and psychiatrists alike have been trying to answer ever since the condition first arose. In my, non-scientific opinion, it is. I believe it in the same sense that Christians feel the Holy Spirit course through them, how world class athletes focus so absolutely that time seems to slow down for them. It only affects a certain few though, the people who are able to appreciate something that reaches the absolute pinnacle of its field. The people who understand the amount of work it takes to create something as majestic as Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” When those people see something like that in person for the first time, something special can happen, and that’s what Stendhal felt so many years ago after he viewed Giotto’s frescoes for the first time.

So whether or not Stendhal Syndrome is proven or disproven, I suspect it doesn’t matter. People will always interpret art differently, which is one of the wonderful things about it. At the end of the day, if a great piece of art makes you feel something… connects with you, whether physically or emotionally, it’s done its job. Stendhal himself put it best:  “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.”

What do you think? What makes your heart flutter?