JVII Journal

          1.       Commentary

Historically, poliovirus infection has been an important cause of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) worldwide [1]. Human artistic manifestations in form of painted or carved objects traced acute flaccid paralysis back to Ancient Egypt. The 1500 BC Egyptian Wall stele of a priest called Ruma with a shorter leg and helping himself with a stick. This art shows a withered leg of the priest, and his foot in the equinus position. This deformities characteristic of an attack of paralytic polio (Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Museum ÆIN 0134) is considered to be one of the first representations of a polio victim. This piece of art represents a polio victim in the 18th Dynasty (1403-1365 BC) (Figure 1) [2].

Poliomyelitis is also in the center of the sad inheritance, 1899 painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. The subject in (Figure 2) was a depiction of crippled children bathing at the sea in Valencia, under the supervision of a monk. The polio epidemic that struck some years earlier the land of Valencia is present, possibly for the first time in the history of painting, through the image of the two affected children [3]

Another evidence of acute flaccid paralysis is seen in the painting by Francis Bacon: after Muybridge 1965 shows a painting of a woman emptying a bowl of water and paralytic child walking the balustrade (Figure 3) [4].

Figure 1: The 1500 BC stele of a priest called Ruma with a shorter leg and helping himself with a stick.

Figure 2: Sad inheritance, 1899 painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.

Figure 3: Painting by Francis Bacon: after Muybridge 1965.

1. Sejvar JJ, Lindblade KA, Arvelo W, Padilla N, Pringle K, et al. (2010) Clinical Assessment of Self-Reported Acute Flaccid Paralysis in a Population-Based Setting in Guatemala. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 82: 712-716.
2. Galassi FM, Habicht ME, Rühli FJ (2017) Neurol Sci 38: 375.
3. José Javier Campos-Bueno (2010) Art and Science in Sorolla’s Painting A Research in Dr. Simarro’s Lab. Psychologia Latina Copyright 2010 by Psychologia Latina 1: 9-26.
4. Deleuze and Gilled (2003) Francis Bacon: the logic of Sensation. Transl. Daniel W. Smith. London/New York 2003.