Ashrafian Hutan
The Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
J Cosmet Dermatol. 2018 Jun;17(3):566-567. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12418. Epub 2017 Sep 27.
The 1615 painting of Venus at a Mirror by Peter Paul Rubens is considered a powerful example of the Flemish Baroque movement. Recently it has been identified that the Venus character in the image has a goitre, however on studying the image further, I note dermato-pathology in another of the painting's main characters; the dark-skinned female typically described as the Venus' maidservant who clearly demonstrates patches of skin pigment loss on her face and neck with a concurrent streak of white hair. Together these suggest the underlying diagnosis of vitiligo. There is also a goitre in this individual suggesting thyroid disease. This new finding may offer additional insight into the historical epidemiology of disease in northern Europe but also offers further understanding of the method, origin, and pathological associations of this prominent painting from a genius artist.
彼得·保罗·鲁本斯于1615年创作的《镜前的维纳斯》被视为佛兰德斯巴洛克运动的一个有力典范。最近发现，画面中的维纳斯形象患有甲状腺肿，然而在进一步研究这幅画时，我注意到画中另一个主要人物存在皮肤病理学特征；这个通常被描述为维纳斯女仆的深色皮肤女性，面部和颈部明显有皮肤色素脱失斑，同时还有一缕白发。综合这些情况提示潜在诊断为白癜风。此人还有甲状腺肿，提示存在甲状腺疾病。这一新发现可能为北欧疾病的历史流行病学提供更多见解，同时也有助于从这位天才艺术家的角度，进一步理解这幅杰出画作的创作方法、起源和病理学关联。
