H21: Exploring historical treatments for syphilis through the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571)

Syed Fazal Hussein Shah

University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Benvenuto Cellini was a distinguished goldsmith and sculptor of Renaissance Italy whose noted autobiography recounts his infection with, and treatment for, syphilis during the sixteenth century [Cellini B. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (Bull G, transl.). New York: Penguin Classics, 1999]. Cellini is believed to have acquired syphilis in his late twenties after engaging in sexual relations with a young servant. Although there is no mention of the primary syphilis chancre in his autobiography, Cellini describes in detail how, after 4 months of being dormant, the ‘French disease’ made itself apparent through inflammation of his eyes and a diffuse ‘rose-coloured’ rash, signalling the secondary stage of infection. Cellini sought to treat his illness with ‘the wood’, a popular syphilis treatment at the time that involved confinement to a heated room while adhering to a starvation diet, undergoing daily purges and regularly ingesting a decoction derived from the guaiacum tree of the West Indies. Although this was initially effective, the syphilis ‘pox’ soon recurred. Fortunately, at the time Cellini was hunting in the marshlands of Rome where he developed the ‘quartan fever’ of malaria that appears to have improved his condition substantially. It was some 400 years later that Julius Wagner-Jauregg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for uncovering the therapeutic value of malaria inoculation for treating neurosyphilis, although ‘malariotherapy’ eventually became obsolete following the discovery of penicillin. After a short reprieve, Cellini’s infection progressed into the third stage of disease, as demonstrated by the increasing general paresis and megalomania apparent from his autobiography. With his health faltering, Cellini fell victim to a disadvantageous business deal with corrupt tradesmen who subsequently plotted to poison him in order to realize their investments early. However, Cellini was again fortunate, as not only was the dose of poison he ingested insufficient to kill him, but the poison happened to be mercury, the treatment of choice for syphilis at the time. Fortuitously, Cellini was administered just the right dose to cure his infection, resulting in him calling for his would-be assassins to be honoured as therapists rather than punished by the state. Today, Cellini’s bronze sculpture ‘Perseus with the Head of Medusa’ stands as testament to his relationship with syphilis, depicting the goddess of venereal diseases at either side of the god Mercury to signify the cause and cure for his disease.