Stendhal Syndrome or Florence Syndrome was named after the French author Stendhal in 1817 when during his visit to Florence, specifically as he left Santa Croce church, he experienced feeling faint and a rapid heart beat.
Church of Santa Croce
The definition of the syndrome per Wikipedia: “A psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art in a single place.” Many cases of tourists going to the local hospital Santa Maria Nova with these symptoms have been reported over the years.
During my first visit to Florence many years ago, I experienced the same sensations, as I visited the Church of Santa Croce and thought I was receiving the energy of the famous departed souls that are buried there. Galileo, Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Enrico Fermi, just to name a few.
Many of you reading this may have had experiences with Stendhal Syndrome and realize that one does not have to be only in Florence to experience it. Recently, I visited Venice and was overwhelmed by the art on display there. Yes, Venice certainly has treasures of Renaissance art, but this time it was the contemporary art that blew my mind!
My husband and I were there to view the Biennale as well as relax and celebrate our wedding anniversary. As the Biennale is closed an Monday we made plans to revisit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The current exhibition “The Avant-Gardes of Fin-De-Siecle Paris: Signac, Bonnard, Redon and Their Contemporaries” has about 100 works of art. It is rare that one can attend such a display of so many impressionist works of art under the same roof. I felt like a child lost in a toy store!
When viewing two artists work that I did not know of, tears began to fall.
Berthe Morisot’s “Julie Playing a Violin”
and Theo Van Rysselberghe’s Canal in Flanders, gloomy weather
The next day two days were devoted to the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale. WOW!
I have previously been to three and this was by far, in my opinion the very best.
At the Giardini, I did some research and limited the number of exhibits to visit, otherwise for sure I know I would have fainted out of sheer exhaustion trying to visit all 30 permanent national pavilions. (There are a total of 88 National participants exhibiting at the Giardini, the Arsenale and throughout the city of Venice).
Loved the British Pavilion, which featured birds of prey snatching Range Rovers from the super-rich!
The Belgian pavilion centerpiece was titled Cripplewood., a gnarly, goth work that gave one pause.
The Austrian entry by Mathias Poledna was a tribute to storytelling, depicted in an animated film titled “Imitation of Life. Very vintage Walt Disney in feel.
It was raining gold coins in the Russian Pavilion’s politically charged installation.
The Unites States featured artist Sarah Sze, who took this year’s overall theme , The Encyclopedic Palace, literally by using salt, water, sting. mixed media and other common items to create her vast installation.
The Venetian Pavilion made the use of silk and textures to create “soft” art. The lady in red below was made out of silk thread. Exquisite.
For me the most moving exhibit at the Giardini, and possibly all of the Biennale was the Egyptian. Very striking large models in a gold material and then just one descriptor plaque:
“Do not panic from the wound, otherwise how can the light sneak inside you”. One could not help but think of recent events there.
On to the historic vast Arsenale…
This was the first year Indonesia set up its own pavilion at the Biennale and it did not disappoint. Huge spaces were filled with larger than life scenes of Indonesian culture. Five artists contributed to this exhibit titled Sakti (Magic and Creative Power).
Saturated yet filled with emotion and needing time to process all the wonderful culture and art, I stepped out into the Italian pavilion’s garden to catch my breath.
It all comes together under the Barber Shop pole!
FYI: Exhibit at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum closes on Jan. 6. 2014.
The Venice Biennale on Nov. 24, 2013
*A friendly word of advice: If you do not want to experience Stendhal Syndrome stay for more than two days.
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