The tortured hands of Michelangelo struggled with chronic osteoarthritis
The cost of hammering, chiseling and painting pieces of priceless art was a high price to pay for Michelangelo, never giving up until his death in 1564. Italian scientists believe that the Renaissance artist’s deformed claw-like hands were the result of excessive hammering and chiseling and concluded that Michelangelo indeed suffered from chronic osteoarthritis. According to a letter in 1552 to his nephew;he wrote that writing gave him great discomfort. Chronic osteoarthritis