Portrait of Stendhal
The stinging syndrome is a mental condition that occurs when someone is completely overwhelmed by the beauty of art. Physical manifestations are an accelerated heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and fainting. In severe cases, even forms of mania, hallucinations or other psychotic phenomena sometimes occur.
The disorder is named after 19th century French writer Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle pseudonym), describing in his work how he was emotionally taken in 1817 by the artistic character of the city. Over the years, several cases have been known of tourists who become dizzy or faint at the sight of art in Florence, especially at the Uffizi Museum.
In 1979, Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini described the phenomenon as a syndrome after having studied about 100 cases for ten years.
Syndrome may be comparable to Jerusalem syndrome, with strong emotional responses to religious experiences.
In 1996, horror director Dario Argento made the giallo / horror thriller The Stendhal Syndrome, in which a young agent is a serial killer and rapist, and shows that she is also suffering from the syndrome. The film is inspired by the book of Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini describing the syndrome, with Dario's daughter Asia in the lead.
In the 2013 film of Paolo Sorrentino, La Grande Bellezza, the syndrome is shaped by a Japanese tourist who sees the splendor of Rome and falls faintly. Literatuurverwijzingen
wiki
