Hemidystonia - hemiatrophy syndrome in Domenico Morone's Madonna with child

Abstract

The authors present an image of the Madonna and Child painted by one of the less well-known Italian artists of the Renaissance. The appearance of the child in this work raises the question of whether his obvious physical deformities were deliberately portrayed as an empathic gesture toward children with disabilities. Various retrospective diagnoses of the child's condition are enumerated, one of which is considered more probable.