PMC2244617_01
The Duke and Duchess of Urbino (1465) by Piero della Francesca. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. The left panel is a portrait of Battista Sforza in a right lateral view. She faces her husband, Federico di Montefeltro, who is depicted in a left lateral view. The Duke was 43 years old when this diptych was painted. Notice the missing nasal bridge [5], moles on the cheek, and the skin folds on his jaw due to a facial skin disease that he had as a young man [13]. In addition, observe his prominent thoracic hyperkyphosis with the apex of the convexity roughly at the level of the T6-7 vertebrae. Battista, in contrast, does not have this anomaly. (Reproduced with permission from the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.)
1752-1947-2-11-1.jpg
PMC2244617_02_1752-1947-2-11-1.jpg
F1
A comparison of the thoracic spines of the Duke and his wife in Figure 1 reveals, quite convincingly, that the Duke had the convexity but his wife did not. By the time he was an adult, the Duke's marked hyperkyphosis was present as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
PMC2244617_02
The Duke and Duchess of Urbino (1465) by Piero della Francesca. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. The left panel is a portrait of Battista Sforza in a right lateral view. She faces her husband, Federico di Montefeltro, who is depicted in a left lateral view. The Duke was 43 years old when this diptych was painted. Notice the missing nasal bridge [5], moles on the cheek, and the skin folds on his jaw due to a facial skin disease that he had as a young man [13]. In addition, observe his prominent thoracic hyperkyphosis with the apex of the convexity roughly at the level of the T6-7 vertebrae. Battista, in contrast, does not have this anomaly. (Reproduced with permission from the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.)
1752-1947-2-11-1.jpg
PMC2244617_02_1752-1947-2-11-1.jpg
F1
A comparison of the thoracic spines of the Duke and his wife in Figure 1 reveals, quite convincingly, that the Duke had the convexity but his wife did not. By the time he was an adult, the Duke's marked hyperkyphosis was present as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
Madonna of the Egg (1472) by Piero della Francesca. Pinacoteca of the Brera Academy, Milan, Italy. In this painting, the 50-year-old Duke is genuflecting and is again depicted in a left lateral view. Observation of the neck moving posteroinferiorly demonstrates the transition between skin and armor. The contour of the silver-colored armor is convex and quite striking, especially when viewed against the red cloak of the figure behind the Duke. What confounds this area is the Duke's red and gold damask cape that hangs down his back. However, the intersection of the armor and the cape reveals the prominent inferior bend of the thoracic hyperkyphosis, which is present at the same vertebral levels as in Figure 1. Apparently, his custom-made armor was crafted to accommodate his hyperkyphosis. (Reproduced with permission from the Pinacoteca of the Brera Academy, Milan.)
1752-1947-2-11-2.jpg
PMC2244617_02_1752-1947-2-11-2.jpg
F2
In the Madonna of the Egg, the 50-year-old Duke is shown genuflecting in the right lower quadrant of the painting, and again, he is depicted in a left lateral view (Figure 2). By the time he was an adult, the Duke's marked hyperkyphosis was present as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.