Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Stendhal's Syndrome

Came across this when reading an article from the Straits Times, "Weak in the Presence of Beauty".

Very interesting... in wikipedia, it's described as "a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly 'beautiful' or a large amount of art is in a single place."

Yes, it reminded me of my visits to Europe. Yes, Europe... not Australia or Asia (yet). The visits to the Churches in Paris, Spain and Portugal, where without fail, seeing pieces of arts everywhere. Yes, there's where I learnt how to look out for some unique features that make one piece a special one. Of course, will never forget the visit the Lourve... twice... but the real 'dose' came from the one-day visit, surrounded by the paintings and sculptures.

Palaces and Theatres, too... and yes, the most recent visit to the British museum... ok, I like the halls where I was surrounded by mummies... 'ginger'... a memorable trip, though brief.

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