BIAF 2017
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Scuola Italiana del XVII secolo<br />
Italian School of the 17 th century<br />
Ritratto di Barbara van Beck<br />
olio su tela, 70,5 x 50,5 cm.<br />
1650 circa.<br />
Già Francia, collezione privata.<br />
Barbara van Beck, nata nel 1629 vicino<br />
ad Ausburg, in Baviera, soffriva di una<br />
rarissima sindrome detta ipertricosi;<br />
l’anatomista Thomas Bartholin che nel<br />
1639, la vide esibita a Copenhagen come<br />
spettacolo d’attrazione, riportò che ”tutto<br />
il suo corpo era ricoperto di peli biondi<br />
e soffici e di una foltissima barba”. La<br />
donna compare in diverse incisioni del<br />
tempo dove è ritratta anche vicino a un<br />
verginale di cui era abile suonatrice.<br />
Portrait of Barbara van Beck<br />
oil on canvas, 70.5 x 50.5 cm.<br />
Circa 1650.<br />
Formerly France, private collection.<br />
Barbara van Beck, who was born in<br />
1629 near Ausburg, in Bavaria, suffered<br />
from the extremely rare syndrome called<br />
hypertrichosis universalis. The anatomist<br />
Thomas Bartholin, who saw her in<br />
Copenhagen in 1639 exhibited in a sideshow,<br />
noted that her “entire body was covered<br />
with soft, blond hair and a luxuriant beard”.<br />
A number of contemporary engravings<br />
portrait her; some show her standing next<br />
to a virginal, at which she was known to be a<br />
skilled player.<br />
30 A EDIZIONE
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