Pictures of eminent artists are considered masterpieces of world painting for a reason. They not only give aesthetic pleasure, but also give energy to the mind. In many compositions, the authors left messages for their descendants. Oddly enough, but even after centuries, finding out the exact interpretation of images is not an easy task even for specialists. But they still managed to find out some facts …
"Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple" by Jan van Eyck
Apparently, while painting the picture, the artist was thinking about self-promotion, so he left 2 messages to his descendants at once. First, on the wall where the mirror hangs, you can see the inscription "Jan van Eyck was here 1434", which clearly hints at the date the composition was created. The second message is in the mirror: in addition to the Arnolfini couple, here you can see a couple more silhouettes. Presumably, a man with a raised hand is the author of a masterpiece of world painting.
Spring, Sandro Botticelli
Apparently, the Italian painter had a special interest in botany. In the painting Spring, he depicted the ancient Greek goddesses in an orange garden and in a flower meadow. The artist depicted each flower and petal so accurately that experts counted half a thousand different types of plants. For example, in the lower right corner you can see a German iris.
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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
What messages did they try to discern in the famous composition: from the life of Christ to the exact date of the end of the world. Italian musician Giovanni Maria Pala put forward a version that a 40-second melody resembling a hymn is encrypted in the picture. If you draw five parallel lines along the characters, you can see that the hands of the apostles and the loaves of bread are in the positions of the musical notes. It remains only to play them on a musical instrument from right to left.
"Portrait of Madame X" by John Singer Sargent
The American painter Sargent was shocked by the beauty of the French socialite Virginie Gautreau, and therefore decided to paint her portrait. The girl resisted for a long time, but then she decided to pose for the artist. When the finished composition was presented to the public, a loud scandal erupted: people were outraged that the right shoulder strap of the young lady's dress was lowered. Sargent immediately rewrote the strap of the dress, lifting it over his shoulder, but this did not save the situation. Due to a storm of public outrage, the painter had to leave Paris.
"Ambassadors", Hans Holbein the Younger
Holbein's work causes a lot of discussion among experts about its content. In addition to the French ambassador and the Bishop of Valois, the painting depicts a huge number of different objects: musical and measuring instruments, watches, books, etc., which testifies to the versatile interests of officials. But the "highlight" of the composition is a narrow elongated object in the lower part in the foreground. If you look at the picture below on the right, you can see that it is an optically modified … skull. Experts believe that it is this subject that brings in the motive of the mortality of earthly existence.
Cafe Terrace at Night by Vincent van Gogh
This picture is unique for the Dutch painter, because he hated the routine. This was the reason for a whole "investigation" of specialists who tried to understand what prompted the Post-Impressionist to write such a banal composition. At first glance, it seems that it simply depicts people sitting on the terrace of a cafe. However, scientists see in the picture an analogue of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper": at the tables you can count exactly 12 people (the apostles), and in the center there is a towering silhouette (Christ).
"Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo
The ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel is a famous cycle of Michelangelo's frescoes, which is considered one of the recognized masterpieces of High Renaissance art. One of the compositions depicts the Lord surrounded by angels, giving the first spark of life to Adam. Scientists have noticed that the red plan, which serves as the background for the fresco, resembles a human brain in shape. In the picture, you can even see the pituitary gland and the vertebral artery (an angel from below with a green scarf). Experts put forward a version that with the help of his creation the artist expressed his indignation at the confrontation between the church and science.
The Prophet Zechariah by Michelangelo
Another of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel with an amazing and funny history. Pope Julius II was a great admirer of painting, and therefore personally ordered Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the church in the Vatican. The artist, like all the inhabitants of the country, did not like the Pope, and therefore decided to take advantage of the opportunity and express public opinion. So the prophet Zechariah appeared in the picture, who outwardly is very similar to Julius II, and behind him are 2 angels. If you look closely, one of them makes a not entirely decent gesture, popularly known as "fig".
Bacchus by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
The composition depicts the god of winemaking from ancient Roman mythology named Bacchus. In his left hand he holds a glass of wine, in the foreground, a filled decanter can be seen on the left, in the center - a basket of fruit. It would seem that there is nothing that could attract attention, but experts using multispectral analysis technology clearly saw the artist's self-portrait on the wall of the decanter with wine. He stands with a brush in hand in front of an easel (most likely, Caravaggio captured his work process).
Why hasn't anyone seen a self-portrait before? Because during one of the restorations the painting was covered with a thick layer of varnish and the figure was simply “sketched”. Over the years, the coating gradually faded away and the author of the masterpiece himself appeared to the world.
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
Experts believe that an amazing female portrait is fraught with many mysteries, therefore it is the most visited exhibit in the Louvre. The artist really left some messages: for example, he wrote his initials LV on the right eye of a mysterious lady and left some kind of inscription on her left eye. True, they can only be seen under a microscope. In 2015, a French scientist discovered that there is another image of a woman under the Mona Lisa. Presumably, it was the first, but for some reason, the artist painted the world famous masterpiece that we see today on top of it.
Author: Marusya Kot