Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42286796›Full record

ArticleEndocrinology, diabetes & metabolism2026

Pituitary Tumour Apoplexy as Cause of Death of Simonetta Vespucci, the Venus by Botticelli.

Domiziana Nardelli, Dennis Black, Anne Schafer, Paolo Pozzilli

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Domiziana NardelliDepartment of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
Dennis BlackDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Anne SchaferDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Paolo PozzilliDepartment of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5090-636X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSimonetta Vespucci is the model for the world-renowned Venus painted by Sandro Botticelli at the end of the XV Century. Her unexpected death at the age of 23 remained a mystery for more than 500 years, until we proposed in 2019 that she probably suffered from a pituitary adenoma.

methodsWe now hypothesize with further evidence from historical descriptions of her last days that an expansion of the adenoma was the cause of her premature death, aged twenty-three.

resultsOur hypothesis is supported by three elements: (1) tumour characteristics; (2) symptoms presented during her last days; and (3) the historical records of two potential precipitating events.

conclusionsWe conclude that Simonetta Vespucci, the Venus by Botticelli, died as a consequence of a rapidly expanding pituitary adenoma causing tumour apoplexy, thereby making this endocrine emergency the likeliest cause of her death.

Indexed as

AdenomaFamous PersonsPituitary ApoplexyPituitary NeoplasmsFemaleHumansgalactorrheapituitary adenomatumour

Identifiers

PMID42286796
PMCPMC13263234

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.