title: The clubfoot painted by Jusepe de Ribera: a controversial diagnosis.
abstract: The Clubfoot painted by José de Ribera depicts a young beggar affected by a typical equinus clubfoot. He shows a contorted right hand and wrist. His left hand holds a begging note, suggesting some difficulty to speak. This condition may be caused by a cerebral palsy, consisting of a brain injury in the left hemisphere responsible for right hemiplegia and speech disturbance. Recently, it was suggested that the boy's condition is a consequence of arthrogryposis, perhaps amyoplasia or distal arthrogryposis type A1. Some clinical features may suggest the diagnosis of Sheldon-Hall syndrome. Considering all the signs represented on the painting, the diagnosis of hemiplegia due to cerebral palsy cannot be discarded. The present article is a novel analysis of the painting based on previously proposed diagnoses of the boy's condition, namely, hemiplegia and arthrogryposis.
authors.affiliation: a Espace éthique méditerranéen UMR ADES 7268 EFS-.CNRS-Université d'Aix-Marseille Hôpital de la Timone , Marseille , France and.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.affiliation: a Espace éthique méditerranéen UMR ADES 7268 EFS-.CNRS-Université d'Aix-Marseille Hôpital de la Timone , Marseille , France and.|b Hopital Saint-Joseph Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction , Marseille , France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tourame
authors.affiliation: b Hopital Saint-Joseph Service de Médecine et Biologie de la Reproduction , Marseille , France.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montjean
mesh_terms: D001176:Arthrogryposis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis; D003025:Clubfoot / Q000209:etiology* / Q000266:history; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000209:etiology; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008512:Medicine in the Arts; D010151:Paintings
keywords: Amyoplasia; arthrogryposis; cerebral palsy; congenital foot deformity; hemiplegia