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Erschienen in:
01.03.2021 | Endo&Art
The Virgin Mary with a small goiter breastfeeding the Child
Erschienen in: Journal of Endocrinological Investigation | Ausgabe 3/2021
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The representation of the Virgin Mary while nursing the Child is quite frequent in devotional art. The painting reproduced in Fig. 1a depicts the Virgin with a small thyroid enlargement, better evident in Fig. 1b. Apart from the widespread occurrence of endemic goiter in Italy, the representation of thyroid swelling in pregnant or lactating women in fine arts was frequent, provided that the doctors and the artists as well, were empirically aware of the influence of the unknown state of hyperoestrogenism on thyroid economy. A prototypical example is the magnificent Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca (https://www.madonnadelparto.it/la-madonna-del-parto-uk-2/description/). Moreover, iodine deficiency was severe and iodine deficiency disorders were endemic in Sicily up to the second half of the twentieth century [1].
Fig. 1
a Southern painter, a follower of Roberto de Odorisio, Madonna dell’Umiltà (Madonna of Humility), tempera on board, cm 100 × 130, second half of the fourteenth century. Diocesan Museum, Monreale, Sicily, Italy. b Detail showing a small diffuse thyroid swelling
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