P-386: Prevention and longevity: the contribution of last creativities

摘要

Objectives: In longevity, creativity may help people not to lose themselves in the existential void. The creativity may promote the reactivation of resources and functions. Methods: In longevity famous artists rediscovered skills despite some health problems. Their last creativities contributed to improving the quality of life in their last years. We examined some important artists and their masterpieces in late life. Results: At 89 years, Michelangelo realized his last masterpiece: Pieta Rondanini. He worked with the forces gradually decreasing. His last thoughts were for the sculpture like a companion of his longevity. Donatello completed, before dying, the bronze panels of the pulpit of the Church of S. Lorenzo in Florence. Donatello was suffering, but he finished the absolute masterpiece: the resurrection of Christ, in a revolutionary way. Goya, during the convalescence period, traced the famous Black Paintings. Just after, despite the progressive reduction of sight, he made his last great paintings. Monet, towards the end of his existence, became almost blind, but made masterpieces such as The Rose House, at 85 years, and Clouds at 86. Matisse, in the last years, realized some masterpieces, including the glass window The Tree of Life in the "Chappelle du Rosaire" in Vence. He wrote: "I consider it, despite all its imperfections, my masterpiece". Picasso seemed to reach the maximum of his creativity in late life. We remember The Musketeer, realized at 91 years: a fighting figure, ready to defy what life still proposes. Conclusions: Aging leaves nothing to chance. Longevity represents again a creative experience of living. Through latest appearance the life may express the essence of the plot, sometimes in an innovative way.