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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