Neurol Sci DOI 10.1007/s10072-015-2300-4
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Teofilo Folengo’s facial paralysis and unknown demise Francesco M. Galassi1 • Stefano Galassi1
Received: 15 June 2015 / Accepted: 16 June 2015 Ó Springer-Verlag Italia 2015
Keywords Facial paralysis Seventh cranial nerve Mimicry muscle Stroke Brain tumour Teofilo Folengo (1491–1544), also known by the pseudonym Merlino Coccajo, is regarded as a very prominent 16th century Italian poet. Born in Vergil’s homeland, Mantua, he is remembered for a series of writings in macaronic Latin, amongst which stands out the heroicomic poem Baldus, destined to influence even the work of Rabelais. After retiring to a secluded life in the village of Campese, near Bassano del Grappa, he passed away at the age of 53 [1]. Although some paintings allegedly portraying him exist, the anonymous oil on canvas exhibited in the Palazzo San Sebastiano Museum in Mantua is considered to depict the real lineaments of the Mantuan poet, since a Latin inscription easily allows one to attribute the portrayed character to him: Theophilos Folengo/poeta Merlinos/Obyt 1545 (Fig. 1). What immediately catches the onlooker’s attention is the rather abnormal crooked grin his face shows, which cannot be thought of as a natural facial expression and may indeed be interpreted in the light of medical diagnostic principles. As of a result of a typical facial nerve (7th cranial nerve) paralysis, integumentous mimicry muscles are affected thus yielding a patently visible facial asymmetry showing a deviation of the oral fissure in the direction of the unaffected half, while the affected half does present a certain lowering of the labial commissure. Interestingly, Folengo’s forehead is shown as & Francesco M. Galassi
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Fig. 1 Teofilo Folengo by anonymous painter. Museo della citta` di Palazzo San Sebastiano, Mantova (online figure)
still capable of frowning symmetrically, which would be consistent with the superior branch of the facial nerve being unaffected by the pathology. Such an observation— with all the limitations imposed by the bidimensional nature of a pictorial representation—potentially allows one to rule out a peripheral, Bell’s type, palsy, suggesting instead a supranuclear location of the lesion [2].
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Although the methodological principle [3]—according to which one may not venture with confidence into the field of etiology having but one ancient source from which to draw his conclusions—will continue to stand firm, given the fact that the poet’s eyebrows are shown to be hoary and his face rather emaciated, it may be cautiously put forward that Folengo was represented at the end of his life, already suffering from some relevant pathological condition. If that were to be found to have coincided with the central cause of his facial paralysis, namely—and most likely—a devastating stroke or a rapidly growing and metastasising brain tumour with their imaginable consequences for his physical integrity, a scientifically reasonable and well-grounded explanation for the demise of the great poet may well be proposed. Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank Ms Rebecca Jane Stephens, MA (Cambridge University), for her careful and skillful editing of the text.
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Compliance with ethical standards Conflict of interest of interest.
The authors declare that they have no conflict
Ethical statement This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
References 1. Piscini A, Folengo T (1997) Teofilo in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol 48. http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/teofilofolengo_(Dizionario_Biografico). Accessed 14 June 2015 2. Fauci AS, Harrison TR (eds) (2008) Harrison’s principles of internal medicine, 17th edn. McGraw-Hill Medical, New York 3. Galassi FM, Gelsi R (2015) Methodological limitations of an etiological framing of Ariarathes’ goitre. Response to Tekiner et al. J Endocrinol Invest 38(5):569
