Second only perhaps to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is the most recognizable painting of the Renaissance. This depiction of the Roman goddess, standing atop a seashell, contained all the qualities found most beautiful in the time period: pale skin, flowing gold hair, and a soft gaze in the eyes.   Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli. Brittannica Botticelli based this rendering on a real-life woman, and one who met an untimely end. Researchers now believe that his paintings unwittingly provided clues to how this tragedy occurred.  Simonetta Vespucci: noblewoman, icon, and tragic heroine Nicknamed “La Sans Par,” or “The Unrivalled,” Simonetta Vespucci was, essentially, the “it girl” of Renaissance Italy. It is widely believed that her beauty was so inspiring that she was the muse of several Florentine painters. But none more so than Botticelli, who has at least six works centered around women with similar features.  Simonetta died in 1476 in Florence at only 23 years old. Previously, the cause of death was thought to be tuberculosis. However, scientists from Queen Mary University of London were able to confirm that the actual cause was a brain tumor.  More specifically, Simonetta may have experienced the rapid growth of a tumor in her pituitary gland. The growth leads to bleeding or swelling, which in turn can cause headaches, hallucinations, vomiting, and high fever. All of these symptoms were written about in letters detailing Simonetta’s final days.  Pictures really are worth a thousand words Other hints were in Botticelli’s paintings, assuming that he was, in fact, painting Simonetta. For example, in “Allegorical Portrait of a Woman,” she is shown lactating, despite never having children. Which is a “surprising way to portray her,” said study co-author and diabetes researcher Dr. Paolo Pozzilli. That is, until you factor in that another symptom of this diagnosis is an excess of hormones that can cause spontaneous milk discharge.  Allegorical Portrait of a Woman, Sandro Botticelli. Meisterdrucke Fine Art Finally, the researchers put five of Simonetta’s portraits through AI-assisted analysis, which confirmed their years-long theory. Even that distinctly ethereal, yet aloof stare we see in Venus likely points to this diagnosis.  “It’s also possible that the irregular eye positioning in the Birth of Venus  -the ‘strabismus’ or squint later considered a trait of piety and beauty  – may be caused by the pituitary tumour,” said the study.  A close-up of Venus Wikipedia Most tragic of all, the researchers noted that the event which likely kicked off this fatal medical emergency was either dancing or a suspected rape by a notoriously cruel Duke. In other words, her end came by a great night or by a truly terrible one.  Many believe that Botticelli felt more than artistic infatuation for his ill-fated muse. And when you consider that he requested to be buried at her feet when he died in 1510…it certainly seems plausible.   This brings a new layer of depth to a piece already so well-known What Botticelli may have intended as a tribute to Simonetta’s beauty could also have become an unintended record of her demise. That’s what’s so captivating about his work, really. Each painting contains not only inexorable beauty, but countless hidden stories waiting to be told.  The post Study finds that Venus’s alluring stare in Botticelli’s most famous painting may have pointed to a tragic diagnosis appeared first on Upworthy.