Seeing the glory of an art exhibit, overwhelmed by beauty and joy, even to the extent of passing out, has happened! The 19th-century French novelist, Stendhal, visited the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, and was highly affected by the notion that he was at last in this place, that he experienced heart palpitations and more. He says in his writings, “Life was drained from me. I walked with fear of falling.”
In 1979, an Italian psychiatrist, noticing that this had happened to other tourists, named this the Stendhal syndrome. The syndrome is defined as typically short-lived and striking people when they view art or other forms of great beauty. Symptoms include fainting, a faster pulse, panic attacks, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, and hallucinations. The symptoms don’t seem to require that there is medical intervention. However, one man, in 2018, had a heart attack (he survived) at the Uffizi Gallery while looking at The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
Art can have other effects like simply making us feel good. Visiting an art museum or gallery has the power to make us feel comforted, connected, and stronger. Even the simple action of posting a picture on Instagram can have this same effect. Artwork can also start conversations, making us aware that we can all experience our own forms of “beauty.”
**NOTE: Doctors in Canada in 2018 started handing out prescriptions for museum visits to their patients as part of the patient’s healing process. They were convinced of art’s serotonin-boosting abilities.