Joe Exclamation
We all recognise these world famous paintings, but you’ll be surprised to find out some of the secret messages left by the painter, hiding inside them! Let’s take a look.
1) The Prophet Zechariah
Michelangelo, one of the most famous artists of the renaissance, was commissioned to paint Pope Julius II or as he was commonly known, Pope terrible. A shrewd politician and skilled conqueror, he wasn’t favored by the public. No surprise then, that Michelangelo painted in a secret gesture on one of the cherubs behind him. The baby can be seen doing “the fig”, an ancient hand sign meaning the sea word!
2) The Madonna with Saint Giovannino
Domenico Ghirlandaio is the author of this master piece that, at first may look pretty normal, a ripped baby Jesus supported by Saint Giovannino in front of the Virgin Mary. But we’re quickly drawn to what’s behind the Madonna… There seems to be a distinct, well, Unidentified Flying Object in the sky. And weirder still, a shepard staring at it, confirming its existence. Could this imply baby Jesus came from another planet?
3) The Creation Of Adam
In this painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, Michelangelo famously painted the Creation of Adam. The scene where God supposedly gives the first human the spark of life. Michelangelo however was passionate about human anatomy and had written that he believed consciousness was a divine gift. The thing that separates us from apes. If you look closely you can see God encased within an anatomically correct human brain. Perhaps not giving Adam the spark of life, if not the gift of self-awareness.
4) Bill Clinton’s Portrait
Nelson Shanks wanted to represent the scandal that the president had with Monica Lewinsky. So he used the exact color of Monica’s famous dress in his shirt, and he also painted a dark shadow over his shoulder as a symbol of his tarnished presidency.
5) The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci, wasn’t just a painter, he had lots of talents, one of them was music. If you where to score the painting, using the hands and pieces of bread as notes you will have made a non-sense melody. But Da Vinci was in the habit of writing everything backwards so that anyone looking at his notes would not be able to read them without a mirror. Play the notes backwards and you will have unlocked Da Vinci’s secret melody!
6) Mozart’s Portrait
Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni painted Wolgang Mozart when he was a 6 year old boy. He painted one hand pointing at his trusty piano, but the other represents the family’s affiliation with one of the biggest secret societies of the time, the Illuminati. Some believe that placing one hand inside one’s robes is significant of this affiliation.
7) The Mona Lisa
Experts believe that the Mona Lisa or ”Cute Lisa” was a portrait of Lisa Gherardini the wife of a Florentine silk merchant. There are hundreds of speculations about the mysteries of this very famous painting. For example some believe that it was actually a self-portrait, others that she was a prostitute because of her lack of facial hair, and others that she was pregnant, due to the positioning of her hands. Also if you look at her right eye, you can read the letters “LV”, Leonard da Vinci’s initials.
Which one of these hidden secrets surprised you the most?
Comment below!