Renaissance genius Raphael's death at the age of 37 500 years ago was caused by a medical error which compounded a bout of pneumonia, a new Milan university study says.
"His fever was worsened by the excessive application of leeches," said the study by the university of Milan-Bicocca.
Previously syphilis, typhus and malaria had been cited as among the possible causes of the death of the Urbino-born artistic prodigy and 'Divine Painter'.
The new study, based on direct and indirect testimony from the great artists's time, rules all three out.
"Raphael was killed by pneumonia aggravated by the medical error," said the report, published in Internal and Emergency Medicine, the review of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI).
One source, the art historian Giorgio Vasari, said Raphael's death was caused by a night of excessive sex.
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