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Even those masterpieces of painting that seem familiar to us have their secrets.
We are in website We believe that in almost every significant work of art there is a mystery, a “double bottom” or a secret story that you want to uncover. Today we will share a few of them.
112 proverbs in one picture
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, "Netherlands Proverbs", 1559
Pieter Brueghel the Elder depicted a land inhabited by literal images of the Dutch proverbs of those days. There are approximately 112 recognizable idioms in the painted picture. Some of them are still used today, such as "swim against the current", "bang your head against the wall", "armed to the teeth" and "big fish eats small ones".
Other proverbs reflect human stupidity.
Subjectivity of art
Paul Gauguin, Breton village under the snow, 1894
Gauguin's painting "Breton Village in the Snow" was sold after the death of the author for only seven francs and, moreover, under the name "Niagara Falls". The auctioneer accidentally hung the painting upside down after seeing a waterfall in it.
Kazimir Malevich, Black Suprematist Square, 1915
Specialists of the Tretyakov Gallery have discovered the author's inscription on a famous painting by Malevich. The inscription reads: "Battle of the Negroes in a dark cave." This phrase refers to the title of a playful painting by the French journalist, writer and artist Alphonse Allais “Battle of Negroes in a dark cave in the dead of night”, which was an absolutely black rectangle.
Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room, 1901
In 2008, infrared showed that another image was hidden under the "Blue Room" - a portrait of a man dressed in a suit with a butterfly and resting his head on his hand. “As soon as Picasso had a new idea, he took up the brush and embodied it. But he did not have the opportunity to buy a new canvas every time the muse visited him, ”art historian Patricia Favero explains the possible reason for this.
Valentin Serov, "Portrait of Nicholas II in a jacket", 1900
For a long time Serov could not paint a portrait of the king. When the artist completely gave up, he apologized to Nikolai. Nikolai was a little upset, sat down at the table, stretching out his hands in front of him ... And then it dawned on the artist - here he is! A simple military man in an officer's jacket with clear and sad eyes. This portrait is considered the best depiction of the last emperor.
© Fedor Reshetnikov
The famous painting "Again deuce" is just the second part of the artistic trilogy.
The first part is "Arrived for the holidays." Obviously a well-to-do family, winter holidays, a joyful excellent student.
The second part is "Again the deuce." A poor family from the outskirts of the working class, the height of the school year, a dull stunner who again grabbed a deuce. In the upper left corner you can see the picture "Arrived for the holidays."
The third part is "Re-examination". Rural house, summer, everyone is walking, one malicious ignoramus who failed the annual exam is forced to sit within four walls and cramming. In the upper left corner you can see the picture "Again deuce"
Joseph Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed, 1844
In 1842, Mrs. Simon traveled by train in England. Suddenly, a heavy downpour began. The elderly gentleman sitting across from her got up, opened the window, stuck his head out, and stared like that for about ten minutes. Unable to contain her curiosity, the woman also opened the window and looked ahead. A year later, she discovered the painting “Rain, Steam and Speed” at an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and was able to recognize in it the very episode on the train.
There are many masterpieces of fine art known throughout the world. But not everyone knows that some of them keep secrets that were discovered after the death of the creators of the works. Although there are such secrets that were learned during the lifetime of artists, which makes the paintings even more mysterious and attractive.
1. Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1500-1510.
2. Since the appearance of this masterpiece by the Dutch artist, disputes have flared up more than once about the meanings hidden in it. Of particular interest has always been the sinner depicted on the right wing of the triptych, who has notes imprinted on his buttocks. One of the students of Oklahoma Christian University named Amelia Hamrick, decided to shift the notation of the 16th century to a modern twist, and the “500-year-old song from hell from hell” that appeared on the Internet became a real sensation.
3. "Mona Lisa"
Few people know that there are two versions of the well-known picture. One of them is called "Monna Vanna", and its author is a student and sitter of Leonardo da Vinci, a little-known artist Salai. Art critics are sure that it was this young artist who was the model for the great Leonardo when painting such paintings as John the Baptist and Bacchus. Some even suspect that it was Salai who posed for the painting "Mona Lisa", dressed in a woman's dress.
4. "Old Rybak"
5. This seemingly unremarkable painting was painted by the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Chontvari in 1902. That's just the subtext inherent in the picture, was revealed only after the death of the author. If you put a mirror in the middle of the picture, then on the one hand you can see God, and on the other - the Devil. So the artist tried to reflect the dual nature of each of us.
6. "The Last Supper"
When writing his picture, Leonardo da Vinci paid special attention to the figures of Christ and Judas. One of the young singers was chosen as the sitter for the image of Christ, but the artist spent three whole years searching for a sitter for Judas. Once on the street, Leonardo stumbled upon a drunkard who liked him so much that he decided to write Judas from him. What was the surprise of the artist when the drunkard who came to his senses said that he had already posed for the master several years ago and it was from him that Leonardo painted Christ.
7. "American Gothic"
Many consider Grant Wood's work to be strange and depressing, although there is absolutely no subtext in it. The artist made this painting during a trip to Iowa when he saw a small house in the Gothic style. Grant's sister and his dentist posed as characters in front of the house.
8. Night Watch
This painting by Rembrandt "The performance of the rifle company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg" was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. This work entered the treasury of world art under the name "Night Watch", which she received due to the dark background against which the figures act. In 1947, the painting was restored, and it was then that a layer of soot was discovered that covered it. Having cleared the original, it was revealed that the artist meant a daytime scene, judging by the position of the shadow from the left hand of the center figure at about 14 hours.
9. "Boat"
In 1961, Henri Matisse's The Boat hung upside down in the New York Museum of Modern Art for 47 days. The painting shows 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. When it was discovered that the second sail was just a reflection of the first on the surface of the water, it became clear that the picture was hung incorrectly. The top of the picture should be a large sail.
10. "Self-portrait with a pipe"
Although many believe that Van Gogh cut off his own ear, art historians are sure that the artist injured his ear in a fight with the artist Paul Gauguin. Considering that the self-portrait reflects a distorted reality due to the fact that it was painted using a mirror, in fact, the artist suffered from his left ear.
11. "Breakfast on the grass." The two French artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are often confused. This is not surprising, because even the name of Manet's painting "Breakfast on the Grass" Monet borrowed and wrote his "Breakfast on the Grass".
12. Claude Monet, Breakfast on the Grass.
13. "Morning in a pine forest"
As it turned out, not only Shishkin worked on this well-known painting. Since the artist, who specialized in painting landscapes, did not get bears, he turned to the animal painter Konstantin Savitsky for help.
Millions of people admire the works of famous artists of the past. Their amazing colors, the play of shadow and light, the skill with which the smallest details are so carefully written out. But do we consider paintings carefully enough? Do we see everything that the artist wanted to show us? At first glance, it only seems that these are just landscapes, portraits, historical and biblical stories. The most amazing secrets of history, the secrets of their creators, can be encrypted in them, and under a layer of paint of one picture, a completely different one can be hidden. Only a thorough study and analysis carried out by specialists can lift the veil of these secrets for us, but sometimes they can’t do it either, and the mysteries of famous paintings remain unrevealed for future generations.
Even those masterpieces of painting that seem to us well known and studied almost by millimeters have their own secrets. Almost every significant work of art has a mystery, a "double bottom" or a secret story that you want to uncover. Today we will share a few of them.
The painting "Flemish Proverbs" by Pieter Brueghel the Elder can be called one of the biggest and most fascinating puzzles. The artist depicted a land literally inhabited by Dutch proverbs!
Approximately 112 idioms are recognized in the picture, some of them are known to you and me. Try searching for: "armed to the teeth", "swim against the current" or "beat your head against the wall". Perhaps you can figure out the rest? For example, those who talk about human stupidity or, on the contrary, about foresight?
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1500-1510. This picture caused a lot of controversy from the moment it was born, which continue after 500 years. One of the topics for research was the right part of the triptych, called "Musical Hell", which depicts the torment of sinners in hell, who are tormented using musical instruments. The attention of researchers was attracted by the notes written by the artist on ... the buttocks of one of the sinners. The notes were arranged in a modern way and ... a melody from the underworld sounded, which became a sensation.
And this is how the music played according to the notes from the picture sounds:
One of the most famous paintings by Rembrandt "Danae" was nicknamed "two-faced". Shooting in x-rays showed that Danae's face was written twice: the first time it was an image similar to Saskia, the painter's deceased wife, and the second, later, resembles the face of his other beloved Gertje Dirks, who became the artist's girlfriend after Saskia's death.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Danae, 1636-1647.
The painting "Figure at the Window" was painted in 1925, when Dali was 21 years old. Then Gala had not yet entered the life of the artist, and his sister Anna Maria was his muse. The relationship between brother and sister deteriorated when he wrote in one of the paintings "sometimes I spit on a portrait of my own mother, and it gives me pleasure." Anna Maria could not forgive such outrageousness.
In her 1949 book Salvador Dali Through the Eyes of a Sister, she writes about her brother without any praise. The book infuriated El Salvador. For another ten years after that, he angrily remembered her at every opportunity. And so, in 1954, the painting "A young virgin indulging in Sodomy with the help of the horns of her own chastity" appears. The pose of the woman, her curls, the landscape outside the window and the color scheme of the painting clearly echo the Figure at the Window. There is a version that this is how Dali took revenge on his sister for her book.
Old Rybak, Tivadar Kostka Chontvari, 1902. An old tired fisherman is a portrait of an ordinary person, like all of us and no more. What is the mystery here? No one could understand it during the life of the artist. And its essence is that an Angel and a Demon live in each of us, in the soul of each there is God and there is the Devil. Attach a mirror to the middle of the picture and you will see that in each person there can be both God and the Devil.
One of Klimt's most significant paintings depicts the wife of the Austrian sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. All Vienna discussed the stormy romance between Adele and the famous artist. The wounded husband wanted to take revenge on his lovers, but chose a very unusual way: he decided to order a portrait of Adele from Klimt and force him to make hundreds of sketches until the artist starts to turn away from her.
Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer", 1907.
Bloch-Bauer wanted the work to last several years, and the model could see how Klimt's feelings fade away. He made a generous offer to the artist, which he could not refuse, and everything turned out according to the scenario of the deceived husband: the work was completed in 4 years, the lovers had long cooled off towards each other. Adele Bloch-Bauer never found out that her husband was aware of her relationship with Klimt.
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-1498.
Leonardo da Vinci fresco "The Last Supper" 1495-1498. For more than 5 centuries of existence, the famous fresco has been destroyed and restored more than once (the last restoration lasted 21 years!). Many looked for secrets in it and found them - where did the "extra" hand with a knife come from? From whom did Leonardo write Jesus and Judas?
Technologist Slavisa Pesci created a visual effect by overlaying the original with its own translucent mirror reflection, which revealed two additional figures at the edges of the picture and a woman with a baby standing to the left of Jesus.
Musician Giovanni Maria Pala interpreted the bread and hands on the table as musical notation.
Researcher Sabrina Sforza Galitzia believes she has solved the puzzle contained in The Last Supper, which predicts a worldwide flood that will begin on March 21, 4006 and will mark the beginning of a new era for mankind.
Vincent van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles, 1888-1889.
In May 1888, Van Gogh acquired a small workshop in Arles, in the south of France, where he fled from the Parisian artists and critics who did not understand him. In one of the four rooms, Vincent sets up a bedroom. In October, everything is ready, and he decides to paint Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles. For the artist, the color, the comfort of the room was very important: everything had to suggest thoughts of relaxation. At the same time, the picture is sustained in disturbing yellow tones.
Researchers of Van Gogh's creativity explain this by the fact that the artist took foxglove, a remedy for epilepsy, which causes serious changes in the patient's perception of color: the entire surrounding reality is painted in green-yellow tones.
Sometimes the search for secrets on the canvases of famous artists reveals deceit, voluntary or involuntary. This is what happened to Rembrandt's The Night Watch (1642). In fact, the day watch was depicted! Just for a couple of hundred years, during which the picture wandered through different halls, until it fell into the hands of art historians, it managed to become covered with a thick layer of soot that darkened the entire background. After a thorough cleaning of the surface, details were found confirming the "daytime version" - the shadow from the captain's hand falls in such a way that it can be assumed that the picture depicts a patrol that entered the city streets no later than 2 pm.
Rembrandt, The Night Watch, 1642.
Vincent van Gogh misled everyone with his "Self Portrait with a Pipe", in which he depicted himself with a bandaged ear. The ear was really damaged, but not the right, but the left. The deception is obvious and, most likely, accidental - he simply wrote himself, looking in the mirror.
Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait with a Pipe.
And one more deception, which is familiar to all of us from childhood on candy wrappers. The famous "Morning in the Pine Forest" (1889) by Ivan Shishkin, the greatest master of landscape. The artist, who painted landscapes beautifully, was afraid that the bears would not come out of him "alive" and truly touching. Therefore, he resorted to the help of another master animal painter Konstantin Savitsky, who knew how to draw bears like no other. Initially, the names of both authors were on the canvas, but ... Tretyakov ordered the name of the animal painter to be washed away.
Ivan Shishkin, "Morning in the Pine Forest", 1889.
The famous "Gioconda" exists in two versions: the nude version is called "Monna Vanna", it was painted by the little-known artist Salai, who was a student and sitter of the great Leonardo da Vinci.
Many art critics are sure that it was he who was the model for Leonardo's paintings "John the Baptist" and "Bacchus". There are also versions that dressed in a woman's dress, Salai served as the image of the Mona Lisa herself.
The generally accepted opinion is that the Mona Lisa is perfection and her smile is beautiful in its mysteriousness. However, the American art critic (and part-time dentist) Joseph Borkowski believes that, judging by the expression on her face, the heroine has lost a lot of her teeth. While examining enlarged photographs of the masterpiece, Borkowski also found scars around her mouth. “She is so ‘smiling’ precisely because of what happened to her,” the expert believes. “The expression on her face is typical of people who have lost their front teeth.”
In the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" was exhibited. Only after 47 days did someone notice that the painting was hanging upside down. The canvas depicts 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background.
The artist painted two sails for a reason, the second sail is a reflection of the first one on the surface of the water. In order not to be mistaken in how the picture should hang, you need to pay attention to the details. The larger sail should be at the top of the painting, and the peak of the sail of the painting should be directed to the upper right corner.
Henri Matisse, The Boat, 1937.
Artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are sometimes confused - after all, they were both French, lived at the same time and worked in the style of impressionism. Even the name of one of Manet's most famous paintings, "Breakfast on the Grass", Monet borrowed and wrote his "Breakfast on the Grass".
Édouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863.
Claude Monet, Breakfast on the Grass, 1865.
How many more secrets, secret ciphers and messages, erroneous interpretations and deceptions hide the paintings of great artists? Who knows, maybe they will be revealed literally tomorrow, or maybe only by the next generation of researchers.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1500-1510
Music on the buttocks
Fragment of the right side of the triptych
Revenge of Salvador Dali
In her 1949 book Salvador Dali Through the Eyes of a Sister, she writes about her brother without any praise. The book infuriated El Salvador. For another ten years after that, he angrily remembered her at every opportunity. And so, in 1954, the painting "A young virgin indulging in Sodomy with the help of the horns of her own chastity" appears. The pose of the woman, her curls, the landscape outside the window and the color scheme of the painting clearly echo the Figure at the Window. There is a version that this is how Dali took revenge on his sister for her book.
Two-faced Danae
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Danae, 1636-1647
Van Gogh's yellow bedroom
Vincent van Gogh, "Bedroom in Arles", 1888 - 1889
Researchers of Van Gogh's creativity explain this by the fact that the artist took foxglove, a remedy for epilepsy, which causes serious changes in the patient's perception of color: the entire surrounding reality is painted in green-yellow tones.
Toothless perfection
Leonardo da Vinci, "Portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo", 1503 - 1519
Major on face control
Pavel Fedotov, Major's Matchmaking, 1848
Why Freedom is naked
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix, Liberty at the Barricades, 1830
non-square square
Kazimir Malevich, Black Suprematist Square, 1915
old fisherman
Melodrama of the Austrian Mona Lisa
Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer", 1907
Bloch-Bauer wanted the work to last several years, and the model could see how Klimt's feelings fade away. He made a generous offer to the artist, which he could not refuse, and everything turned out according to the scenario of the deceived husband: the work was completed in 4 years, the lovers had long cooled off towards each other. Adele Bloch-Bauer never found out that her husband was aware of her relationship with Klimt.
The painting that brought Gauguin back to life
Paul Gauguin, Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?", 1897-1898
The painting was painted by Gauguin in Tahiti, where the artist fled from civilization several times. But this time life on the island did not work out: total poverty led him to depression. Having finished the canvas, which was to become his spiritual testament, Gauguin took a box of arsenic and went to the mountains to die. However, he did not calculate the dose, and the suicide failed. The next morning, he staggered to his hut and fell asleep, and when he woke up, he felt a forgotten thirst for life. And in 1898, his affairs went uphill, and a brighter period began in his work.
Nude Mona Lisa
Twins at the Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-1498
Innocent story "Gothic"
Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930
"Night Watch" or "Day Watch"?
Rembrandt, Night Watch, 1642
capsized boat
Henri Matisse, The Boat, 1937
Deception in a self-portrait
Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait with a Pipe, 1889
Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"
Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863
Claude Monet, Breakfast on the Grass, 1865
alien bears
Ivan Shishkin, "Morning in the Pine Forest", 1889
Savitsky painted perhaps the best bears in the history of Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered his name to be washed off the canvas, since everything in the picture “beginning from the idea and ending with the execution, everything speaks of the manner of painting, of the creative method peculiar to Shishkin.”
