Nature Communications, 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-72566-7.
How did the Botticelli model really die?
Credit: Sandro Botticelli/Public domain
Credit: Sandro Botticelli/Public domain
One of the most famous works of the 15th century artist Sandro Botticelli Birth of Venusdepicting a naked goddess, newborn, standing on a giant scallop shell. A model (disputed by some historians) has been claimed for the painting Simonetta Vespucci (nee Cattaneo), a well-known beauty of Florentine high society whom Botticelli greatly admired. He drew it five times before his untimely death in his 20s. His open coffin was carried through the streets of Florence. poet Poliziano called it “unrivalled” (La Sans Par).
Simonetta was long believed to have tuberculosis, but in 2019, Paolo Pozzilli of Queen Mary University of London and several co-authors suggested that she may have suffered from a pituitary tumor (adenoma) that gradually increased in size due to the secretion of prolactin and growth hormone in several glands. This could have caused sudden tumor-related fatal apoplexy.
Pozzilli et al. have now expanded their analysis a paper Published in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism. For example, they examined letters between Simonetta’s father-in-law, Piero Vespucci, and Lorenzo de’ Medici, which describe how Simonetta collapsed during a ball a few days before her death. His symptoms included headache, hallucinations, vomiting and high fever, all symptoms of a rapidly expanding pituitary tumor, according to the authors. Pozzilli et al. I also think the tumor would explain the irregular placement of the eye Birth of Venussuggested that the model had a squint or misaligned eyes, which will be the subject of future research.
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, 2026. DOI: 10.1002/edm2.70261.
