PubMed · 6512410
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B Blatt. 1984. On distorting reality to comprehend distortion.. https://doi.org/10.1177/002221948401701013
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The paper presents a new case of neuronal intermediate filament inclusion disease (NIFID), a recently described new variant of early-onset frontotemporal dementia. Documented with repetitive brain images, morphologically proven cases additionally endorse evolving the clinical and pathological phenotype of NIFID. For the first time the paper describes the probable influence of NIFID on the artistic creativity of an accomplished artist showing rapid dissolution of artistic talent.
The authors identify two Rembrandt etchings of 1642, Saint Jerome in a Dark Chamber and A Scholar at a Table by Candlelight, as self-portraits. Considered with biographical data, the prints suggest that Rembrandt suffered from a bipolar personality disorder, manifest in exuberance and lavish spending in the 1630s, and then, after the death of the artist's wife, in clinical depression in the early 1640s. Depression is depicted in the prints by their dark ambiance, and the figure's pose is traditional in art to represent melancholia, one of the four classical humors conventionally ascribed to artistic genius. In addition, the authors identify as a portrait of his wife the object at which the "scholar" is looking. Although the panel is turned away from the viewer of the etching, its size, shape, and material suggest that it is a painting that survives in Kassel, Germany.