For a night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury

ABSTRACT. Syphilis, a treponemal sexually transmitted disease, was from the very beginning stigmatized and considered to be disgraceful and embarrassing. But its history is connected with the artistic personality in more ways than one. The artists themselves were often its victims whilst, in a kind of sado-masochistic gesture, they described its far-reaching ravages with nothing less than relish. pp. 25–33

Keywords: syphilis; history of syphilis; syphilis in arts