The Gouty Joseph in Giulio Romano's 'Holy Family'

Abstract

Joint diseases in antiquity and the Renaissance were generally known by the all-encompassing term, gout ('podagra' or 'gotta'). Only in later centuries was there a differentiation in the types of joint diseases, distinguishing gout in the modern sense from other arthritic and rheumatic disorders. The present article illustrates one pictorial representation of joint disease from the early sixteenth century, a case that seems typical of gouty tophi.