Behind famous paintings hide secrets that sometimes take hundreds of years to discover.
The Ambassadors is a famous painting by German artist Hans Holbein. This whole picture looks very ordinary until you notice a “strange object” in between the two men in the picture. If viewed from the right, the object appears to be a deformed skull. Some have suggested that the skull is a symbol of the Latin phrase “memento mori” , which means “remember that you will die”. “Memento mori” is said to be a motto of the man on the left of the painting – French Ambassador Jean de Dinteville.
The circular blurred object in the famous painting “Madonna with Saint Giovannino” by Domenico Ghirlandaio has been at the center of controversy for many years. Some people even think that it is an image of an alien spacecraft. Although it doesn’t look like much here, when zoomed in, the object actually has the shape of a UFO.
The painting “Creation of Adam” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel depicts with incredible precision the shape of the human brain. Does that reflect Michelangelo’s view that God is the creation of the human brain? No one can say for sure, but this exciting find offers a fresh look at one of history’s most iconic works.
The song hidden in the painting “The Last Supper” is the best proof of the “Da Vinci code”. An Italian musician discovered that the arrangement of objects on the table and the position of the hands of Jesus and the apostles are all symbols representing musical notes.
Some believe that Vincent Van Gogh paid homage to Da Vinci through his painting “Café Terrace at Night” . Specifically, there are 12 people in the cafe representing the 12 apostles while the waiter in the middle is shaped like Jesus. There is also a cross symbol right behind the waiter on the window pane.
Although not easy to spot, the Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted a tiny self-portrait in his painting “Bacchus” . This self-portrait was first discovered in 1922, more than 300 years after it was completed, but then it was forgotten after many years of poor preservation. However, this detail was rediscovered in 2009 thanks to modern technology.
When the painting “Scheveningen Sands” was painted in the 1600s, it shows a group of people gathering on the beach around a whale. However, the animal was later painted over, leaving a group of people gathered around something invisible. Later, restorers discovered what appeared to be a person floating in the air, but it was actually a whale’s fin. Commenting on why the whale was painted over, restorer Shan Kuang said that depicting a dead animal in paintings was considered bad in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Looking at Michelangelo’s David statue , you can see two completely different stories. If viewed from below, David’s facial expression appears to be quite calm and peaceful, but when looking directly at the statue’s face, David is clearly showing a scared, or perhaps angry, expression.
Art historian Chiara Furgoni discovered the face hidden among the clouds in a fresco by artist Giotto at the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi , Italy in 2011, 700 years after the painting was completed.
The new “Netherlandish Proverbs” may look like nothing special other than a busy Dutch street scene, but if you look closely you’ll see that each image is a message about life. For example, the image of a fish eating another fish metaphor for the sentence “big fish eat small fish”, or a man holding a globe implies grasping the world in the palm of his hand.
The painting “Primavera” was made by Italian painter Sandro Botticelli between 1477 and 1482. Sandro Botticelli is best known for his painting “The Birth of Venus”, which he also loves very much. Love learning about plants. In Botticelli’s “Primavera,” up to 500 species of plants are depicted with a degree of scientific precision, so that later researchers can identify what those plants are.
The painting “The Two Fridas” was made by Mexican artist – Frida Kahlo in 1939. Female artist Frida Kahlo has brought a sad story in her private life into her portrait painting work. self. It is the image of Frida Kahlo in her marriage to Mexican painter – Diego Rivera. On the left is a bride with a broken heart; and on the right is Frida Kahlo in traditional Mexican women’s clothing – a Frida Kahlo in her happy years living with the painter Rivera.
The painting “Andolfini Portrait” was painted by Belgian artist Jan Van Eyck in 1434. The couple appearing in this painting is believed to be Giovanni di Nicolao di Arnolfini and his wife, Costanza Trenta. They were wealthy Italian aristocrats living in the city of Bruges (Belgium). The strange picture reveals a lot of information: Was this painting made on the occasion of the couple’s wedding or another event? Was the woman pregnant or was it simply a fashion style of the ladies at the time? And who are the mysterious characters appearing in the convex mirror in the background? The location of the artist’s signature is quite strange – right above the mirror, leading one to believe that one of the men appearing in the mirror is the artist’s portrait.