Even critics didn’t notice them right.
Artists often leave special messages in his works. But we used to look at the whole picture, not recognizing the significance of seemingly insignificant details.
We have collected 10 popular canvases, which are not as simple as they seem at first glance. And at the end of the article you will find a bonus: discovered a previously unknown work of Leonardo da Vinci, which can be another masterpiece.
The whale, which was not
This very modest landscape hid the secret for 150 years. Restorer, cleaning the surface of the painting, found it painted a beached whale. The artist Hendrik van Anthonissen decided to rewrite the picture, since they thought that work without a dead animal is more like the audience.
The da Vinci code
Members of the National Committee for cultural heritage found in the right eye of the Mona Lisa with the letters LV, which could mean the name of the artist Leonardo da Vinci. As well as the symbols on the arch of the bridge, which is interpreted as the number 72. It is believed that the bridge (which was destroyed in 1472) behind the left shoulder of the woman is in the Italian town of Bobbio, the artist made a hint for possible identification.
Lute player or lotniska?
For a long time the painting was called “Lotnisko”, and only in the early twentieth century critics saw the human boy. That this young man indicate several characteristics: the notes of a visible record bass party of the Madrigal of Jacob Arcadelt “You know I love you,” as well as the lute and violin, which was considered in the age of Caravaggio mens tools.
Persephone and Hades
Please note the brooch: it depicts Persephone, the Greek goddess of fertility and the realm of the dead. According to legend, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, and a pitchfork in the hands of the farmer is similar to a Trident, which was holding the Greek God of the dead. Grant wood hid a lot of details: for example, stitching on denim overalls, stripes on the shirt, window frames and even the plant in the background copying the outlines of the forks.
The turbulence of van Gogh
In 2004, scientists observed the vortices of the cloud of dust and gas around a distant star, a phenomenon that reminded them of “Starry night” by Dutch. After studying the pattern, the researchers came to the conclusion that with high confidence it can be argued that van Gogh captured on canvas one of the most difficult concepts in physics and mathematics of turbulence.
Fig for the Pope
The conflict between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo led to the fact that one of the angels in the painting “the Prophet Zechariah” (the prophet, the artist wrote to Julius II), put their fingers in Fig. More obscene gesture in those days was not yet — so Michelangelo “directed” Julius II exactly where we all thought.
The face in the decanter
The whole production of “Bacchus”, one of the most famous paintings of Caravaggio, looks pretty ordinary, but the group of experts was able to see something peculiar inside of the carafe — the artist painted his own portrait.
Shishkin did not draw bears
All know the author of this famous painting. But as it turned out, on the famous work worked two artists. The fact that Ivan’s whole life was painted landscapes and was afraid that the bears will not be as it should. Therefore, Shishkin turned to his friend, Konstantin Savitsky, who drew these adorable bears.
Life and death at different angles
A strange object placed in the foreground of the painting “the Ambassadors” — something else, like a skull. Holbein realized the way of double vision: when a “straight” person’s gaze (immersed in the routine) the death appears to be illusory spot, which is not worth paying attention to, and when “special” (meaning — right) — death becomes the only reality that isajet in the eyes of a normal life.
Lady without an ermine
In the original version of the famous painting of the ermine was not. Leonardo da Vinci later took a grey animal and a blue cloak, and for the final version the artist made the animal a larger and more white. It is assumed that the lady in the painting — mistress of the Duke Lodovico Sforza, and he is depicted as ermine. After all, this animal was the symbol of the house of Sforza.
© 2017, paradox. All rights reserved.
