July 27, 2002
Albrecht Durer’s eyes


Albrecht Durer had nice eyes. But look closely. In this self-portrait (age 28) painted in 1500, his pupils are quite uneven. This fascinates me because I also have uneven pupils.

Anisocoria (the medical term for uneven pupil size) appears in about 20% of the US population. In my case, it appeared suddenly about a year ago and I think it’s migraine-related. I wonder if Durer had a headache?

For more pictures of and by Durer, visit the Artchive. Take a look at his earlier self-portraits and check the eyes on the portrait of his father. Interesting. Posted by kuri at July 27, 2002 09:06 AM


Comments

the left side of his face is in shadow, could this cause his pupil on that side enlarge to let in more light????

Posted by: on February 4, 2003 10:46 AM

the left side of his face is in shadow, could this cause his pupil on that side enlarge to let in more light????

Posted by: on February 4, 2003 10:46 AM

Normally the pupils stay even (in relation to one another) no matter what light is cast on each eye individually. Try it in a mirror to see for yourself.

Posted by: kuri on February 4, 2003 10:09 PM

My eyes are also like the ones in the picture. My left pupil is bigger than the pupil in my right eye. I just came out of no where? Dose anyone know why it might haved happened? Is it harmful in any way? Thank you for you help.

Thanx,
Justin G.

Posted by: Justin G. on April 18, 2003 12:14 PM

the migraine thought is interesting…my son was put on 100mg zoloft about a week ago and this seems to suddenly happened to him. he does have migraine headache episodes.

Posted by: Eva on May 27, 2003 05:18 AM

I also have experienced uneven pupils while on
zoloft. It seems to happen more at night
which makes sense because I take my zoloft in the
evening. Since coming down in my dosage now
50 mg I have not noticed the uneven pupils.

Jenifer

Posted by: Jenifer on January 15, 2004 06:25 AM

I first noticed my right pupil quite larger than the other about three weeks after having started taking Effexor XR. I did get a fairly bad tension headache in the muscles that go from my neck to the sides of my face and above my eyes that same evening. The next day the difference was slight, then in the afternoon the right one dilated a lot and sort of pulsed a bit when I looked in the mirror under bright light (as before), but no headache came. Fortunately. My doctor decided that it was due to the venlafaxine and switched me to Lexapro, but I’m wondering if it will cause the same effect, since you all have it from Zoloft, which doesn’t affect norepinephrine as does Effexor. Also, I really liked the results I was getting from Effexor and hated to have to switch. If it is harmless, as one person’s physician said, perhaps I can switch back. Any thoughts? THanks! It’s a strange relief to find others with this uneven pupil dilation- misery loves company, I guess! ;) Seriously, I guess it’s a good sign that none of us have been diagnosed with a tumor or some such! Knock on wood… :)

Posted by: Jennifer on March 10, 2004 12:13 PM

Maybe he just slipped while he was painting?

Posted by: Me on April 2, 2004 12:55 PM

This is so stupid. He was a bad artist. HE should draw the eyes the same. All people’s eyes are the same. I Think he was drunk when he drew this. Look at his hand. It looks like there could be a bottle there. He was drunk and probarly also high. He was the first man to invent crack.

Posted by: BOB Forman on April 3, 2004 02:45 AM

I agree with bob, Durer SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Frank on April 3, 2004 02:46 AM

my son is now one (1) he has had uneven pupil dilation since birth. It is usually followed by irratic behavior like he’s in pain (i.e. headache or migrain). I’m scared it could be something serious…. i’m supposed to watch for infant glacoma ?!?! but nothing else has surfaced.

Posted by: kathleen on May 4, 2004 09:22 AM

my son is now one (1) he has had uneven pupil dilation since birth. It is usually followed by irratic behavior like he’s in pain (i.e. headache or migrain). I’m scared it could be something serious…. i’m supposed to watch for infant glacoma ?!?! but nothing else has surfaced.

Posted by: kathleen on May 4, 2004 09:22 AM

I agree with Bob, Durer invented crack!!!

Posted by: UltraBob on May 4, 2004 12:21 PM

Durer is phenomenal, so shut yer face ye non believers. i’ve noticed this uneven pupil dilation for the past year after having severe ocular migraines in my right eye only. It also occurs as do the migraines when I’ve consumed a lot of caffeine and used eye drops with an antihistamine (pheniramine maleate). The use of the eyedrops could however be a reaction to the dilation. I’m vegan and don’t drink alcohol so hormone pumped dairy and meat products are out of the question. It is rather frightening to suddenly discover such an uneven stare.

Posted by: cristine on May 8, 2004 02:17 PM

I also have uneven pupil dilation, however it happens sporadically, one to three times a week, particularly after I have been in dim light. I do not take Zoloft or suffer from migranes. I do take a daily antihistamine however and wondered whether any others may also have been taking antihistamines??

Posted by: Bil on May 27, 2004 12:28 PM

I too have uneven dilation. I’ve noticed it for a few years. I do have migraines and my opthamologist suggested that when they are unevenly dilated that I could be experiencing an asymptomatic migraine. Sometimes I also see sparkly lights…another migraine related thing. I don’t take medication. The wierd thing I’ve noticed is that it isn’t always the same eye. Sometimes it’s my right and sometimes it’s my left eye. It’s as if the wiring isn’t quite right ; )

Posted by: Keelia on June 6, 2004 01:14 AM

For about a year now I have experienced on/off uneven pupil dilation similar to that mentioned by other people. I do not have migraines, take any drugs etc. I am 20 and lead a normal life and this seemingly came out of the blue.

Man.. it makes me so self-concious.. always worried that someone will spot it. Like the rest of you, it’s on/off and worse in dim light.

Posted by: Mark on June 6, 2004 08:49 PM

I also have uneven pupil dilation, my girlfriend noticed it about 3 weeks ago, its a strange sensation, if i’m staring at someone i find it kinda hard to focus, although there is no blurring or anything, I just know that something is not right. I d’ont suffer from migranes i am not on any medication, although as i noticed above i drink a lot of tea so mabye there is a caffine link, quite relieved to see that other people have the same thing, I am 28 by the way and live in the Republic of Ireland

Posted by: Greg on June 7, 2004 07:44 PM

For the past week I have been getting bad headaches along with blurred vision. Last night I noticed a big difference in my pupils. My left was much larger that my right. I went straight to the ER because I wasnt sure what was happening and it was very scary. My head was hurting so bad I could hardly keep my eyes open. They done CT scans and ruled out tumors, meningitis, and stroke. I do have a sinus infection that they found. Was said that it could be triggering migraines and they interfere with the vascular system which in turn could cause the uneven dialition. As I sat there and waited my headach went away and my pupils were back to normal. Im glad to know that Im not the only one with this problem and that it can be very scary to see. I am 28 years old and otherwise healthy. SO hopefuly when the infection goes away this strane eye behavior will go along with it as well as the migraines.

Posted by: Rebecca on June 20, 2004 12:05 PM

I am 26 and have never been on any type of anti-anxiety or antidepression medicine. Last week my doctor started me on Lexapro and my right eye was noticibly more dialated than my left eye. He switched me to Zoloft three days ago and the dilation continues, but not as noticibly. Thus far, I liked the Lexapro better than the Zoloft. If the dialation is “harmless” I may ask him to switch me back. This seems to be a more common side effect of the medicine than the drug companies believe…

Posted by: Laura on June 21, 2004 09:02 AM

yeah, but Durer still invented crack.

Posted by: UltraBob on June 23, 2004 06:50 PM

my 3 month old grandson’s pupil are not the same either. can’t find awhole lot about it.

Posted by: melissa on July 14, 2004 02:50 AM
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