Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Vincent P. de Luise

  • Medicean optics: an analysis of Raffaello’s Portrait of Pope Leo X and Two Cardinals

    Vincent P. de Luise  New Haven, Connecticut, United States   Portrait of Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici) and his cousins, the cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi. Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael). ​o​il on panel 154 cm x 119 cm (​61 in. ​x 4​9​ ​in​). 1518-1519. Galleria degli ​Uffizi​, ​Firenze​. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Myopia, or nearsightedness, is…

  • Ghirlandaio, humanism, and truth: The portrait of an elderly man and young boy

    Vincent P. de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States “. . . There is no more human a picture in the entire rangeof Quattrocento painting, whether in or out of Italy . . .”– Bernard Berenson Among the defining characteristics of the Renaissance were humanism and naturalism. While many Renaissance paintings and sculptures were depictions of…

  • Beauty actualized

    Vincent P. De LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut “First of all, move me, surprise me, rend my heart; make me tremble, weep, shudder; outrage me; delight my eyes afterwards if you can . . .”— Denis Diderot What is beauty? Is it a thing or a thought? Can we touch it? Hear it? See it? Or is…

  • Does an apple a day keep the doctor away?

    Vincent P. de Luise New Haven, Connecticut, USA The health benefits of fruits and vegetables are a long-standing and verified aspect of nutrition science. One of those fruits, the apple, has a particularly interesting, albeit circuitous, history as a healthy foodstuff. The well-known aphorism “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is based on…

  • In Consultation: Rachmaninoff, his physician, and the genesis of a masterpiece

    Vincent de Luise New Haven, Connecticut, United States   “You need color to make music come alive. Without color, music is dead.” — Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) There are piano concertos and then there are Piano Concertos. While favorites include the Tchaikovsky First, Mozart’s Twenty-first, the Beethoven Fifth (“Emperor”), and the first concertos of Brahms…

  • Mozart’s “effect” on us: A review of an aspect of music and cognition

    Vincent de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States For decades, neuroscientists have explored whether there exists a causal relationship between listening to music and enhancement of cognitive ability. Does music make one smarter? Can listening to music lead to more memory and greater intellect? Does listening specifically to the music of Wolfgang Mozart improve cognitive ability?…

  • Euterpe Deconstructed: Reflections on the health, illness, and legacy of Wolfgang Mozart

    Vincent de Luise   Wolfgang Mozart, age 26, by his brother-in-law Joseph Lange (1782-1789). Who was Mozart? Of course, we all know his music. The music! That music, so refined and richly textured, melodic, timeless, ineffably beautiful, and sublime. But, who was Mozart? Who was the man behind those genius creations? So much has been…

  • A musical vision: the eyes of Bach and Handel

    Vincent P. de Luise   George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach, the towering musical giants of the Baroque, were both coincidently born in Germany about a month apart, in 1685. They also shared the musical style distinctive of the high Baroque characterized by the masterful use of counterpoint and fugal composition. Handel’s oratorios, notably…

  • The end of sight at the end of life

    Vincent de Luise    Physicians find it difficult to confront and accept end-of-life issues in their patients because their professional education and ethos inform them to do all they can do to treat disease and prolong life. This is particularly difficult for ophthalmologists, who for decades have proudly trumpeted their splendid victories over various causes…