Art
8 secret messages hidden in artworks
For centuries, artists have hidden secrets in their works of art. To this day, people are still trying to solve the mysteries concealed Da Vinci’s iconic paintings – and it turns out he wasn’t the only artist to hide secret messages in his pieces. Let’s take a look at some of the secret messages hidden in famous works of art.
- Portrait of Bill Clinton by Nelson Shanks – six years after he was commissioned to paint the former President, Shanks revealed the shadow on the mantelpiece behind Clinton was actually Monica Lewisky’s infamous dress.
- Portrait of Bill Oddie by Mark Roscoe – Roscoe didn’t really care for the wildlife presenter, and hid a small bird (the “tit”) in his portrait.
- The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger – the blur in the foreground of this painting is actually a distorted human skull.
- The Music Lesson by Johannes Vermeer – this painting actually hides several sexual innuendos. The girl is playing an instrument called “the virginal” and her lustful expression can be seen in her reflection in the mirror above.
- The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck – if you look closely at the script written on the wall in the background, you’ll find it’s actually the artist’s signature. Jackson Pollock later carried through this tradition in his artworks.
- Et In Arcadia Ego by Nicolas Poussin – this painting was the subject of The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s law suit as it is believed reveal the hidden location of Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s marital home.
- The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci – if you look above Jesus, you may be able to see a secret code which historians believe to be the foretelling of a coming apocalyptic flood.
- Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci – after half a millennium, art scholars still have questions about the Mona Lisa. Who was she? Why is the background uneven? They even found the letters “LV” in her right eye in 2010 but still don’t know to what they are referring.
Tell us in the comments below, have you seen any of these artworks up close?
Source: The Independent
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