For centuries, artistic representations of power, status and beauty often featured individuals whose physical characteristics would today be associated with higher body mass indexes, according to physician and researcher Dr. Hutan Yafi.

The observation reflects a broader debate among scholars and medical experts over how changing perceptions of health and attractiveness have influenced the interpretation of historical artworks.Yafi argues that throughout much of recorded history, larger body size frequently functioned as a visual indicator of wealth, authority and social standing.

In artistic depictions, rulers, religious figures, members of royal households and other influential individuals were commonly portrayed with fuller physiques. Similar characteristics were often associated with idealized representations of women, particularly in portraiture and other forms of figurative art.

According to Yafi, these portrayals reflected prevailing social and economic realities. In many societies, access to abundant food and resources was unevenly distributed, making larger body size a visible marker of prosperity and privilege.

As a result, artistic representations frequently reinforced social hierarchies by associating physical abundance with power, influence and desirability.“Strong men, leaders, royal families, religious people, high people in the society were portrayed with high BMI,” Yafi said. “Beautiful women and models were also portrayed with high BMI.”

The relationship between body size and cultural ideals remained relatively stable for long periods, Yafi said, before undergoing significant changes during the 20th century. He linked that shift to developments in medical research, particularly growing scientific understanding of nutrition and cardiovascular health.

According to Yafi, perceptions began to evolve during the second half of the 20th century as researchers increasingly examined the role of saturated fats and trans fats in metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease. Public health discussions around diet and weight gained prominence, influencing both medical guidance and broader social attitudes.

As scientific research expanded, body image standards in popular culture and visual media also changed, Yafi said. He argued that thinner body types increasingly became associated with attractiveness and health, while obesity became more likely to be viewed negatively.

“This led to images of thin, often unrealistically thin, men and women being glorified and obesity being stigmatised,” Yafi said. “Suddenly, thin people became beautiful and the women who inspired artists for centuries were no longer considered attractive.”The evolution of beauty standards has attracted attention from researchers examining the intersection of medicine, culture and visual representation.

Some have sought to analyze historical artworks through a modern medical lens, looking for physical features that may suggest underlying health conditions. Such efforts remain controversial because they rely on interpretations of artistic representations rather than direct clinical evidence.

One of the most frequently discussed examples involves the Mona Lisa, the iconic portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the Renaissance. The painting has long been the subject of academic inquiry across disciplines ranging from art history and conservation science to medicine and psychology.

Yafi noted that some scientists have proposed retrospective medical interpretations of the portrait’s subject. Among the hypotheses advanced in academic discussions are suggestions that features visible in the painting could indicate elevated cholesterol levels, issues related to body mass or endocrine disorders such as hypothyroidism.

“Some scientists believe Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was very unhealthy and that she had a problem with her BMI, cholesterol and severe hypothyroidism,” Yafi said.At the same time, Yafi acknowledged the limitations inherent in such analyses. Because the subject lived centuries ago and no direct medical examination is possible, any conclusions remain speculative and dependent on visual interpretation.

“We don’t know because we cannot go back and make a diagnosis, we are just analysing her features,” Yafi added.The debate highlights a broader challenge faced by researchers attempting to apply modern medical frameworks to historical figures.

While advances in medical science provide new tools for interpreting visual evidence, artworks were not created as clinical records. Portraits often incorporate symbolism, stylistic conventions and artistic choices that can complicate efforts to draw conclusions about physical health.Art historian Bendor Grosvenor has cautioned against treating artistic depictions as reliable diagnostic evidence.

He argues that portraiture operates within artistic and cultural contexts that extend beyond physical resemblance.“Poor Mona Lisa, she’s always being diagnosed with something she almost certainly never had,” Grosvenor said.His comments reflect concerns shared by many art historians who view retrospective medical diagnoses as inherently uncertain.

According to Grosvenor, visual characteristics in a painting cannot be separated from the artistic intentions of the painter or the conventions of the period in which the work was produced.“If a doctor today diagnosed someone only on the basis of how their face looked, we wouldn’t take them seriously,” he said.Grosvenor emphasized that portraiture often serves purposes beyond recording physical appearance.

Artists may alter proportions, emphasize particular features or incorporate symbolic elements intended to communicate status, personality or cultural values rather than provide an exact representation of the subject.“Art is art, and a portrait – even one by Leonardo – is usually about so much more than likeness, let alone health,” Grosvenor said.

His remarks underscore a longstanding tension between medical interpretation and art historical analysis. While physicians may view visual details as potential indicators of health conditions, historians generally stress the importance of understanding artworks within their original social, cultural and artistic contexts.

The discussion surrounding the Mona Lisa also reflects broader questions about how contemporary societies interpret historical images. Standards of beauty, health and physical appearance have shifted significantly across different eras, often influenced by changing economic conditions, scientific knowledge and cultural values. As a result, characteristics that were once celebrated or considered desirable may later be viewed differently.

Yafi’s observations suggest that modern assumptions about body size and attractiveness cannot always be applied to earlier periods without considering historical context. Artistic depictions of rulers, aristocrats and celebrated women often reflected the ideals of their time rather than contemporary expectations.

Grosvenor, meanwhile, argues that efforts to diagnose historical figures based on portraits risk oversimplifying works of art whose significance extends beyond physical appearance. For historians, paintings remain cultural artifacts shaped by creative decisions, social conventions and symbolic meanings that cannot be reduced to questions of medical status alone.

“This is as likely for the art of the future as the art of the past,” Grosvenor said. “Art is art, and a portrait is usually about much more than health.”

France’s Louvre Museum, the world’s largest and most visited museum, is entering a period of uncertainty after the resignation of its president, Laurence des Cars, following a year marked by infrastructure failures, labor unrest, financial scrutiny and one of the country’s most significant museum thefts in decades.

Des Cars, who had led the institution since 2021 and became the first woman to head the Louvre, stepped down this week after months of mounting pressure over the museum’s management and the future of an ambitious €1 billion renovation project backed by President Emmanuel Macron.Her departure comes little more than a year after she formally warned France’s culture ministry that the Louvre’s condition had become increasingly unsustainable.

In a note to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, des Cars described overcrowded galleries, outdated technology, water leaks, damaging temperature fluctuations and deteriorating visitor facilities, saying the museum had reached a “worrying level of obsolescence.”The warning laid the foundation for “Louvre: New Renaissance,” a large-scale modernization plan unveiled by Macron shortly afterward in front of the museum’s most famous attraction, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The proposal includes major repairs, new visitor infrastructure, a separate exhibition room for the Mona Lisa with independent access, and a new grand entrance on the museum’s eastern side near the Colonnade de Perrault.The redesign would also require excavation beneath the Cour Carrée, creating new underground exhibition spaces. Officials estimate the total cost at more than €1.1 billion.The Louvre occupies a 360,000-square-meter complex that began as a 12th-century fortress before becoming a royal palace and later a public museum during the French Revolution in 1793.

It contains more than 400 rooms, roughly nine miles of corridors and over 600,000 objects in its collection, with around 35,000 on permanent display.Originally designed to receive about 4 million visitors annually, the museum welcomed 9 million visitors last year, driven largely by attractions such as the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.Supporters of the renovation argue the scale of visitor pressure makes major intervention unavoidable. Critics, however, question both the necessity and timing of the project, particularly as the museum faces immediate operational challenges.

Didier Rykner, editorial director of La Tribune de l’Art, said essential repairs and modernization were needed, but described the broader plan as unnecessary and financially risky.“It’s unnecessary, and it’s harmful,” Rykner said, arguing that Macron viewed the project as a presidential legacy initiative similar to earlier landmark cultural projects commissioned by former French presidents.

France has a long tradition of large museum projects linked to presidential terms, including François Mitterrand’s Grand Louvre project in the 1980s, which created the museum’s glass pyramid entrance designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei. Georges Pompidou oversaw the Pompidou Centre, while Jacques Chirac backed the Musée du Quai Branly.Macron has maintained a close symbolic connection to the Louvre, choosing its courtyard as the setting for his 2017 presidential victory speech.

With his term ending next spring, the renovation plan has become closely associated with his cultural legacy.At the same time, the museum’s immediate problems have deepened.This month alone, two water pipes burst inside the building, including one in the Denon wing, where the Mona Lisa is displayed. In November, flooding damaged more than 300 documents in the Library of Egyptian Antiquities.

Late last year, the Campana gallery, known for its Greek ceramics collection, was closed due to structural weakness in supporting beams. Elsewhere in the Sully wing, offices were relocated because of concerns over floor collapse.Staff morale has also deteriorated sharply. The Louvre employs about 2,300 people, and unions have described working conditions as “untenable,” citing understaffing, poor pay and management decisions they called irresponsible.

Since last summer, repeated strikes have forced the museum to close fully or partially more than a dozen times.In a joint statement, employee unions said staff felt they were “the last bastion before collapse,” reflecting broader frustration over daily operations and resource shortages.This month, police arrested nine people, including two museum employees and two tour guides, over an alleged long-running ticket fraud scheme targeting Chinese tourist groups.

Investigators believe the operation may have cost the museum more than €10 million over the past decade.The most serious reputational blow came in October, when four men carried out a daylight theft from the Apollo Gallery, stealing diamond-studded Napoleonic crown jewels valued at €88 million.Investigators said the gang used a stolen truck fitted with an extendable ladder to reach an unsecured first-floor window, entered the gallery, smashed display cases and escaped on motorbikes within seven minutes.

Four suspects have since been arrested and remain under investigation, but the jewels have not been recovered.The theft intensified criticism of museum security and placed des Cars under further political pressure. Alexandre Portier, the conservative chair of a parliamentary inquiry on museum security, said the list of institutional failures would have triggered leadership change much earlier in many comparable institutions.

Des Cars acknowledged responsibility for part of the security failure but argued she was also facing consequences for earlier warnings about the museum’s structural decline. In comments to Le Figaro, she said she had faced “an unprecedented media and political storm” and believed conditions no longer existed for her to continue implementing reforms.Her successor, Christophe Leribault, takes over after leading the Palace of Versailles and previously directing the Musée d’Orsay and Paris’s Petit Palais.

The culture ministry said his priorities would include strengthening security for the building, collections and staff, while restoring trust inside the institution and advancing necessary modernization.The future of the New Renaissance project remains uncertain. Staff unions have described it as disconnected from the museum’s actual needs, while France’s state auditor, the Cour des Comptes, has warned it presents significant financial risk and argued urgent repairs should take precedence.Funding remains unresolved.

The Louvre expects €200 million to €300 million from licensing fees linked to its Abu Dhabi franchise, with the remainder expected largely from international donors. According to critics, donor support, particularly from the United States, has been slower than anticipated.The architectural competition tied to the project, expected to advance earlier this year, was suspended in February, adding further uncertainty to Macron’s timetable before he leaves office.

Rykner said the museum’s existing revenues from ticket sales, reserves, state subsidies and Abu Dhabi income were sufficient for repairs and a more limited modernization without committing to a large expansion project.He argued that pressure around the Pyramid entrance and the Denon wing could be eased through smaller additional entrances and alternative display arrangements for the Mona Lisa rather than a major underground redevelopment.