Could Aleijadinho have suffered from scleroderma?

Abstract

Rheumatic conditions have affected, among others, emperors, kings, politicians, religious personages and artists. Knowledge about their articular illnesses has increased with a multiplicity of source documents on these personalities: ancient texts, letters, drawings, paintings, sculptures, songs and pictures. Here the case of the most important Brazilian visual artist is described, namely the sculptor Aleijadinho (1730?-1814), who, besides suffering an extremely disability condition, did not give up performing artistic works throughout his whole life. This study proposes a discussion about the possibility that such an artist has presented a clinical profile of scleroderma.