Stendhal Syndrome: extreme emotions in the face of beauty

The Stendhal Syndrome occurs when beauty overwhelms us.

It is common to experience experience certain sensations when we have in front of us a stimulus that motivates them..

However, there are people with a great sensitivity to these stimuli, and they react in an exceptional way to the emotions aroused by a work of art, a landscape or a film.

Stendhal Syndrome: discovering a unique disorder

In these extreme cases, the term "Stendhal Syndrome" is often used.Stendhal Syndrome"also known as "Traveler's Syndrome" or "Florence Syndrome".

The history of Stendhal Syndrome

In 1817, Henri-Marie Beyle, a French writer who used the pseudonym Stendhal, moved to the Italian city of Florence, seduced by the colossal beauty and monumentality of the city, as well as by its close ties with the best Renaissance artists. Once there, visiting the Basilica of the Holy Cross, he was able to describe a series of sensations and emotions that, decades later, would be recognized as the symptomatological picture of the syndrome. In his writing Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio, he recounted the sensations experienced in these terms:

"I had reached that degree of emotion in which celestial sensations given by the Fine Arts and passionate feelings stumble. Leaving Santa Croce, my Heart was pounding, life was drained out of me, I walked in fear of falling".

The recurrence of this type of sensations, which even caused dizziness, vertigo and fainting, was documented as a unique case in the city of Florence, but science did not define this syndrome as a distinct syndrome until 1979, when the Florentine psychiatrist Graziella Magherini defined and categorized it as Stendhal Syndrome.

Has the Stendhal Syndrome been overemphasized and does it really exist?

It is undeniable that some artistic expressions awaken emotions in us: bristling hairs while listening to a song or tears while watching a romantic movie are reactions that everyone has experienced.

However, the Stendhal Syndrome refers to the experience of very intense sensations in front of a piece of art, usually because of its beauty..

Today, most clinical psychologists recognize the disorder as true, but there is some controversy about it. After its coining in the late 1970s, at a historical moment when globalization led to an increase in travelers globally and to Florence in particular, the number of reported cases increased, the number of reported cases increased considerably.This led to the syndrome also being known as "Florence Syndrome".

For this reason, part of the scientific community believes that the excessive dissemination of the syndrome could be motivated by economic interests on the part of the city of Florence itself, to increase the reputation of the beauty of its artistic monuments, in order to attract an even greater number of visitors.

Suggestion could be the key

Likewise, the interest aroused by the Stendhal syndrome opens up certain questions, such as whether we are not paving the way and increasing the predisposition to experience this type of sensations described by Stendhal moved by a deep state of suggestion.

Bibliographical references:

• Chalmers, D. (1999). The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory. Barcelona: Gedisa
• Gómez Milán, E; Pérez Dueñas, C. Consciousness: the brain's puzzle.
• Magherini, G. Stendhal Syndrome. Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990.
• Stendhal, Rome, Naples and Florence. Ed. Pretextos, 1999.