Curiosity: Do you know what the Stendhal syndrome is, when and how can happen?

It was 1817 and during his Grand Tour, Stendhal was in Florence, precisely in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce «I had reached a level of emotion and celestial sensations that only arts and passionate feelings can make you feel. Leaving Santa Croce, I had a heartbeat, life had dried up for me, I was walking with the fear of falling down»

This is how the French writer Marie-Henri Beyle, better known as Stendhal, described his state of mind after visiting the Santa Croce Basilica.Tachycardia, dizziness, confusion and hallucinations are the symptoms accused by particularly sensitive subjects who find themselves in front of works of art, monuments and statues of extraordinary beauty.Stendhal Syndrome is also called Florence Syndrome, because it is precisely in the tuscan capital that many cases of this very particular “art attack” have been recorded.Today we know that the French writer was really affected by this disorder but certainly in the mind, heart and soul of the many visitors in Florence there are still cases of extraordinary admiration and inconceivable rapture in observing for the first time “such a great beauty “.

Written by #stefanosghinolfi