# Did Lead Paint Cause The "Masters" To Go Crazy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036 "2006-11-11T19:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChiMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ChiMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiMagnet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/1 "2006-11-11T19:33:31Z")
I’ve read a number of art books and basically the claim a large part of the reason so many of the “great masters” of painting were crazy is because they used lead based paint. Or mixed other paints with lead. This lead them to go crazy and have symptoms of lead poisoning. For proof of this they say when the artists were in their “crazy” period they were put in assylums or such and they once again became normal once the lead wore out of their systems. Then they returned to painting and the cycle repeated itself. Any truth to this or is it speculation? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/2 "2006-11-11T19:36:05Z")
_knows nothing factual_ Sounds similar to “mad” hatters. Sounds plausible at least. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/3 "2006-11-11T19:49:09Z")
[QUOTE=ChiMagnet] I’ve read a number of art books and basically the claim a large part of the reason so many of the “great masters” of painting were crazy is because they used lead based paint. Or mixed other paints with lead. This lead them to go crazy and have symptoms of lead poisoning. For proof of this they say when the artists were in their “crazy” period they were put in assylums or such and they once again became normal once the lead wore out of their systems. Then they returned to painting and the cycle repeated itself. Any truth to this or is it speculation? [/QUOTE] Apart from van Gogh, who was likely a schizophrenic, can you cite an example of a crazy painter? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/4 "2006-11-11T19:53:46Z")
I thought heavy metals accumulated in the body and never “wore out of the system”. So I don’t believe it. I suspect the truth is that the sort of mentality that leads to artistic genius is just a bit unstable. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/5 "2006-11-11T19:55:42Z")
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore] Apart from van Gogh, who was likely a schizophrenic, can you cite an example of a crazy painter? [/QUOTE] Salvador Dali was more than a little odd. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/6 "2006-11-11T20:32:52Z")
I can think of a few painters who went bonky (aside from van Gogh, Hugo van der Goes, perhaps, for example, and Goya got very depressed and there are lots of merely eccentrics but I don’t know about bonky) but I really don’t think this has been claimed by many serious art historians. What books have you read this in? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/7 "2006-11-11T20:37:56Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] _knows nothing factual_ Sounds similar to “mad” hatters. Sounds plausible at least. [/QUOTE] Except in the case of “mad” hatters it was chronic **mercury** poisoning, from the chemicals used to make the felt in hats. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/8 "2006-11-11T23:24:29Z")
Here is a site that includes[historical information about artists’ paints.](http://www.paintmaking.com/) And here, from the same site is[some historical information about paint ingredients.](http://www.paintmaking.com/ingredients.htm) It appears to me that artists’ paints were never, and are not now, lead based to any great extent. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/9 "2006-11-11T23:56:32Z")
In the early days (Medieval, Renaissance until I do not know when) much white paint was based on lead, which is why it show up so “well” in x-rays (sorry, I don’t have a citation-- that book’s in storage). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/10 "2006-11-12T00:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] In the early days (Medieval, Renaissance until I do not know when) much white paint was based on lead, which is why it show up so “well” in x-rays (sorry, I don’t have a citation-- that book’s in storage). [/QUOTE] I didn’t follow my site quite far enough into its depths. White was lead based and it seems that lots of white was used. Whether or not that resulted in a lot of lead poisoning is open to question. ---
**Author:** ![SkiDemon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@SkiDemon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkiDemon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/11 "2006-11-12T00:29:02Z")
speaking of which, does anyone know what the signs of mercury posioning were? ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/12 "2006-11-12T03:39:42Z")
Don’t you have to ingest the stuff for it to be harmful? I think the turpentine fumes would get to you a lot quicker than any lead in the paint. Lead poisoning from paint is generally caused by children chewing on old painted woodwork or by inhaling dust from sanding the stuff. Having lead in a mixture on the end of your paintbrush isn’t going to do a lot of harm. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/13 "2006-11-12T04:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=SkiDemon] speaking of which, does anyone know what the signs of mercury posioning were? [/QUOTE] IIRC, Martin Gardner’s _The Annotated Alice_ discusses this in the section on the Mad Hatter. Your library probably has a copy. ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/14 "2006-11-12T04:06:16Z")
Woo hoo…finally absinthe gets off the hook!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/15 "2006-11-12T04:12:38Z")
[QUOTE=VernWinterbottom] I think the turpentine fumes would get to you a lot quicker than any lead in the paint. [/QUOTE] Meh. I breathe the stuff every day and I’m still somewhat sane. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/16 "2006-11-12T05:08:28Z")
[QUOTE=VernWinterbottom] Don’t you have to ingest the stuff for it to be harmful? I think the turpentine fumes would get to you a lot quicker than any lead in the paint. Lead poisoning from paint is generally caused by children chewing on old painted woodwork or by inhaling dust from sanding the stuff. Having lead in a mixture on the end of your paintbrush isn’t going to do a lot of harm. [/QUOTE] When lead based house paints were common, painters sometimes got [painter’s colic](http://dict.die.net/painters%20colic/) which was a result of lead poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/17 "2006-11-12T05:12:38Z")
[QUOTE=beergeek279] Woo hoo…finally absinthe gets off the hook!!! 😃 [/QUOTE] Never was anything wrong with absinthe. In fact, makes the heart grow fonder. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/18 "2006-11-12T06:16:17Z")
My husband’s an artist. His favorite white is a lead-based paint and he’s been using it for years. He doesn’t eat it, nor does he inhale it or even get (much) of it on his skin–so no problem. Although come to think of it he is a bit odd. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/19 "2006-11-12T07:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Meh. I breathe the stuff every day and I’m still somewhat sane. [/QUOTE] we might need a poll here 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ChiMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ChiMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiMagnet)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036/20 "2006-11-12T07:17:58Z")
I’ve read a few books the one I got now is focusing on Francisco Goya. Though it mentions Van Gough. It tells how the old masters would mix paints of lead, cadmium and mercury and absorb them thru touching, breathing and ingesting them via the tips of their tongues. It shows Goya had 5 years periods where his work suddently went form sweet and sentimental to weird and eerie and often grotesque. Then he’d be put away and gradually get better. Of course all this is probably speculation in books, that’s why I wanted to know if it was actual or an urban myth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-lead-paint-cause-the-masters-to-go-crazy/380036.md?page=2)