A case of science turning art into a lab rat

This is an old story by now, but it bears repeating to Tampa Bay art lovers. Some years ago, a leading psychiatrist in Florence, Graziella Magherini, announced at a symposium at the Galleria dell’Accademia, which house Michelangelo’s “David,” that the statue triggers mental imbalance in a certain group of onlookers.

Guess who?

Americans, that’s who - either traveling on their own or in couples. Apparently, of the 1.2 million tourists who visit the statue every year, Americans are most likely to have mind-bending symptoms, ranging from disorientation and panic attacks to – wait for it – bouts of madness. She calls the illness the David Syndrome.

Here’s where you come in. Want to test her finding? Take a run down to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, where a bronze replica of the 17-foot marble statue stands in the courtyard – at your own risk, of course.

Why, you’re probably asking, are Americans more likely to suffer the David Syndrome? Like her fellow Italians, Megherini says they’re “so organized in their sightseeing that they rarely have time for emotional attacks.”

Yeah, right. What about the time a few years back when Irene Pivetti, Italy’s president of the parliament. had three long-hanging paintings of Venuses removed from her office , saying they were “oppressive.” Surely there’s a syndrome for those who find a Venus too burdensome to bear.

It’s clear that the good doctor sees art-loving as some kind of pathology and perhaps, by turns, art-making itself, if she bothered to look. Has she been so “organized” that she never noticed the look of anxiety etched into the face of David. Sure, he looks like he’s calmly facing Goliath and furtively palming a stone, but despite the steadfast and focused posture, his brow is furrowed, which speaks of fear.

Moral of the story? Science and art go together like Easter-bonnet weather and hurricanes.