The story goes that Henri-Marie Beyle, better known as Stendhal, during a visit to the Basilica of Santa Cruz in Florence, Italy, began to feel palpitations, dizziness and sweating, to such an extent that he had to retire to rest until this happened. . He himself described it this way:
«I had reached that point of emotion in which the celestial sensations given by the Fine Arts and passionate feelings meet. Leaving Santa Croce, my heart was beating, life was exhausted in me, I was afraid of falling».
After this event, others that could be related were known, always in Florence and while people were contemplating its innumerable works of art, such as the Galleria Degli Uffizi. However, it was not until 1979 that the psychiatrist Graziela Magherini recorded and studied more than 100 similar cases among tourists visiting Florence.
Therefore, we could define Stendhal syndrome as a brief psychosomatic illness that occurs when a person sees a work of art, a landscape, an architectural complex, etc., that overwhelms him with its beauty, in such a way that he causes certain symptoms.
Stendhal syndrome can present itself in many ways. It is a more frequent pathology in travelers and tourists, since they are exposed to more stimuli than normal, and to this we must add the fatigue from long days visiting places. Magherini, according to his studies, classifies up to three different types of Stendhal syndrome according to the symptoms produced:
Currently, cases of Stendhal syndrome continue to occur, especially in Florence, where true works of art come together that can overwhelm the viewer with their beauty. As Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda, president of the ‘Friends of Florence’ art charity, says in an interview for the BBC, Stendhal syndrome “generally occurs 10 or 20 times a year in certain people who are very sensitive [and] maybe they’ve been waiting their whole lives to come to Tuscany (…) These iconic works of art, the Botticelli, the David, are truly overwhelming. Some people lose their way; it can be amazing. I have often seen people begin to cry.”