What can paintings teach us?

Dear Editorial Board,

We have read with interest the article “Did Michelangelo paint a young adult woman with breast cancer […]?” [Andreas Nerlich et al., The Breast 78 (2024)]. We commend the publication of this text, because it will help researchers understand how interdisciplinary cooperation across science, medicine, ethics and art can be effective. However, we would argue there can be no a priori answer to the diagnostic question the article poses.

First, whether “The Flood”, like any painting based in part on observation, possesses scientific verisimilitude cannot be verified. Second, a single image ought never be relied upon in diagnosing, as such must involve a synthesis of epidemiology, anamnesis, symptoms, and patient background. Third, the article paints an erroneous epidemiological picture because, given Michelangelo's known preference for male models, it is quite possible that the figure with “nipple retraction” is a composite: female breasts overlaid onto a male torso. Therefore, without epidemiological evidence from the literature, the painting cannot indicate a prevalence of cancer in the female breast.

Therefore, rather than evaluating whether Michelangelo represented breast cancer, and indeed why he might have attempted so, our thesis analyses what paintings can teach us about diagnostic methodologies that are patient-centric.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Marcin Śniadecki: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Anna Malitowska: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation. Oliwia Musielak: Data curation, Investigation, Resources, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Zuzanna Boyke: Resources, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Cynthia Aristei: Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Contributors

We were all involved in the preparation, writing, and reviewing of the letter.

Declaration of competing interest

We declare no competing interests.