Caravaggio - paintings of armor and edged weapons 1590s-1610

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

While we might believe that Carvaggio suffered the dreaded lead poisoning which plagued so many artists (though it was known of course in many other aspects in these times) it seems he was well aware of the lighter and more beautiful subjects as well.
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Jim, did you know that Ludwig van Beethoven is also believed to have died of lead poisoning? A sample of his hair, tested some years back, revealed a high lead content. His bio indicated that he loved his wine, often drank 1 or more bottles daily. At that time in Germany, lead was often used as a bottle stopper in lieu of corks. Also, a lot of beverages were consumed from pewter cups especially in northern Europe, and in many places on the Continent, ceramics were lead-glazed as well. So drinking your OJ out of one of those cups every morning for years and years could do you in as well!

When I was in grad school, my prof of Roman history held a discussion of the social causes for the Empire's decline. One theory, advanced in the 1970s, was that lead poisoning had addled too many brains! Some students dismissed this as the ruminations of an over-imaginative plumber, but just think: the Romans, being prolific hydraulic engineers, build large networks of aqueducts and urban piping to connect them to public baths, drinking fountains, and high class houses. Guess what the pipes were made of, and what lining was used in the aqueducts to minimize leakage? And where our term "plumbing" comes from?

In ancient Rome and premodern Italy, lead was a common adulterant to cheap wine. The Latin adjective plumbeus can denote "cheap" and was specifically applied to cut-rate vino.