(details from "Portrait of Max Hermann Neisse (German Poet)") Ludwig Meidner Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Deforming arthritis is often the result of inflammation affecting articulations (joints) often due to systemic diseases. In old English and other languages, a term describing this basket of disorders is Rheuma or Rheumatism, from Rhea, a Goddess that personifies flow, in this case, edema or fluid affecting joints.