Leonardo da Vinci couldn’t complete the Mona Lisa as he suffered from ‘claw hand’: Study | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Leonardo da Vinci couldn’t complete the Mona Lisa as he suffered from ‘claw hand’: Study | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

By Lifestyle Desk |New Delhi |Updated: May 6, 2019 2:45:03 pm

Leonardo da Vinci couldn’t complete the Mona Lisa as he suffered from ‘claw hand’: Study

Doctors in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine have concluded that the hand impairment was caused by a nerve damage. This made it difficult for the artist to hold a palette and brush.

A portrait of Leonardo da Vinci by Giovan Ambrogio Finio; his most popular work the Mona Lisa. (Source: File Photo)

While the fame of Leonardo da Vinci needs no re-telling, Italian doctors suggest that the multi-hyphenate artist might have had experienced nerve damage in a fall. This, they say, hindered his ability to paint later in life. The way his right hand was depicted in two artworks have been analysed and it was deduced that he suffered from ‘Ulnar palsy, or “claw hand”.