"La Diseuse de bonne aventure ", Michelangelo Merisi (known as Caravaggio or Caravage ) Louvre Museum, Paris, France

An elegant young man accosted by a bohemienne fortune teller posing as a practitioner of palmistry or cheiromancy.

 

The ancients were aware that unusual palm lines or flexion creases were more common in persons with abnornal development such as those with Down syndrome - formerly known as "Mongolism" and currently called Trisomy 21 syndrome. The term cheiromancy points to hand and to Cheiron or Chiron, a mythical Giant who trained Aesculapius or Esculapius the hand skills required to perform surgical operations.