Stendhal syndrome

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The Stendhal syndrome was named after Henri-Marie Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842), better known by his penname Stendhal

Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal's syndrome, Hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome, is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

[edit] History

The illness is named after the famous 19th century French author Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri-Marie Beyle), who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence, Italy in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.

Although there are many descriptions of people becoming dizzy and fainting while taking in Florentine art, especially at the Uffizi, dating from the early 19th century on, the syndrome was only named in 1979, when it was described by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence. The syndrome was first diagnosed in 1982.^{[citation needed]}

The term is often used when describing the reactions of audiences to music of the Romantic period.

[edit] Society and culture

• A fictionalized version of Stendhal syndrome is described in Chuck Palahniuk's novel Diary.
• Stendhal Syndrome is the subject of a 1996 Italian thriller film entitled The Stendhal Syndrome and directed by Dario Argento.

[edit] References

• Graziella Magherini. La Sindrome di Stendhal. Firenze, Ponte Alle Grazie, 1989. [1]
• Melinda Guy (January-February 2003). "The Shock of the Old". Frieze Magazine (72). http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/the_shock_of_the_old/. 

[edit] See also

• Culture shock
• Jerusalem syndrome
• Paris syndrome

[edit] External links

• Auxologia: Graziella Magherini: La Sindrome di Stendhal (book) (excerpts in Italian)
• Word Spy definition
• P.W. Fenton's Digital Flotsam Stendhal Syndrome Episode

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