18+ Secrets Hidden in World Famous Paintings

To understand any work of art, one must have a broad knowledge of history, religion, mythology and literature. Knowledge in these areas helps to decipher small details hidden in paintings and, in this way, we can understand why some artists perfect their works for decades and others paint on top of other works.

An author of awesome.club spent a lot of time in museums to learn and tell interesting facts about some works of art that look simpler than they really are. At the end of the post, a bonus awaits you: the portrait of Mona Lisaone of the most mysterious paintings in the world, has more than one version.

This Renaissance portrait by an unknown artist was found by chance. Initially, art historians believed that it was a copy of a medieval painting. Later, however, it turned out that the portrait had been repainted in the 19th century. The large nose, forehead and chin were “discovered” under the layers of paint – the face of a medieval aristocrat had been transformed into the face of a beautiful Victorian-era young woman, so that the image represented the ideal of beauty in the Victorian era. time and could be sold.

With the help of X-rays it was possible to reconstruct the image that had been originally painted. Restorers were able to peel away the paint layer by layer, bringing the frame back to its original appearance, as seen on the right.

Repin painted this picture to express his feelings from the events around him. He is said to have been inspired by the assassination of Alexander II and a song by Russian composer Rimski-Korsakov. The scene of Ivan’s son’s death completely reflected how Repin felt inside. He developed this idea for 3 years.

For a long time he couldn’t finalize the idea, until he went to Spain to see the bullfights. The artist said he saw the sand filled with blood and the bulls’ eyes filled with hatred and rancor. It was from there that he managed to materialize the project he had started. Repin was obsessed with his work and said he dreamed of murder and had multiple visions. It was his friends who saved him from his own madness.

Ramón Satué was a friend of Goya. He was a member of the Madrid Court and a high-ranking government official. The portrait was painted in gratitude for the fact that the Satué family hid the artist during the military repression.

With the help of X-rays, scientists found an image hidden under the painting, depicting a man in uniform. The painting was not finished, so it is difficult to determine who the man depicted would be. It can be assumed that Goya painted King José Bonaparte of Spain, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. After the fall of Napoleon, the artist would have decided not to finish the painting and simply made another painting over it.

In one of the versions, the artist is believed to have carried out an autobiographical work, portraying the drama of his own life. The bride is Praskovya Matveeva Varentsova, a young and naive girl, and the groom is Alexey Markovich Poltoratsky, a leader of the nobility much older than she is.

If we look closely at the picture, we can see an old woman behind the groom. But why is she dressed in white and wearing a head wreath? Only the brides were dressed that way. Historians believe that this woman represents the soul of Alexey’s first wife, who was attending the ceremony.

In 2008, with the help of X-rays, art historians found an image hidden in Picasso’s famous painting, the blue room: a portrait of an old man with a bow tie. The Spanish artist had a lot of ideas, but he didn’t always have enough money to buy new canvases, so he often painted paintings on top of paintings.

To create his most famous work, Ivanov painted over 600 sketches, spent 20 years of his life and had dozens of models posed for this image to be created. But among them there is a person whose popularity was not inferior to that of the painter. The man in the background, in a brown robe on the right, is the famous Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, who was a great friend of the painter and often visited him in his studio.

The painting was commissioned by Lorenzo Medici and should have been a wedding gift. It doesn’t necessarily depict a story from mythology, according to some theories, but it can also be seen as an allegory for the wedding ceremony.

Venus is represented by a humble and married woman, who is in the center of the image, with a red cloak and a veil on her head. If the groom chose a noble bride, like a Goddess, to marry him, he would have a sweet and happy life. The 3 Graces represent the 3 benefactors: concord, charm and luck. Mercury represents the main masculine qualities: intelligence and eloquence. And Cupid’s blindfolded eyes show that love is blind.

What is the link between Tahitians and Christmas? Paul Gauguin was never religious, but he was more agnostic than atheist. In Tahiti, the artist seemed to be fascinated by biblical themes and even published a treatise called Modernity and the Catholic Church🇧🇷

During this period, Gauguin and his beloved Pahura, from the Maori tribe, had a son. The moment of birth was captured by the artist. Pahura and Gauguin’s son, however, died shortly afterwards. This tragic event happened at Christmas.

The French realist painter Gustave Courbet portrayed various everyday scenes very well: funerals, artisans at work, nap after lunch, village girls. The board Dressing the Bride 🇧🇷dressing the bride) would not have gained so much visibility if it were not for the interest of historians in what was hidden behind the painting.

In 1960, with the help of infrared rays, it was discovered that, in fact, there was no bride in the picture. The main figure was naked and the surrounding women were dressed in black, as if in preparation for a funeral. Initially the screen was called Preparation of the Dead Girl 🇧🇷Dead Girl Preparation🇧🇷

Holbein portrayed 2 real ambassadors — Jean de Dinteville and the bishop of the former diocese Georges de Selve. The objects in the background represent the dispute between spirituality and science. One can note a broken lute, an open psalter, a terrestrial globe, a sundial and arithmetic books to corroborate this duality.

In the foreground we see a strange blur, which is actually a distorted skull, symbolizing death. If we look at the image directly, it looks ordinary, and the skull is not noticed: according to the author, death was what was unimportant. But if we look at it from another angle, the skull becomes more evident and, consequently, death becomes something real, thus distorting the common objects in the background.

Historians have long been plagued by the question: why does this nun look so much like the wife of Repin’s brother Sophia Shvetsova? The answer was found in the painter’s diaries. Initially, Repin had painted the portrait of his brother’s wife in a ball gown, but when the work was completed, Ilya and Sophia had a falling out. The artist was very upset with the situation and decided to repaint the work. So now, instead of a beautiful ball gown, Shvetsova appears dressed as a nun, and her fan has been exchanged for a rosary.

To confirm these assumptions, the image was studied by radiography. It turned out that Repin had made the new drawing without erasing the initial image.

The painting depicts the assassination of French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday. He suffered from a skin disease and therefore spent most of his time in the bath, where he worked, read books, wrote and even received visitors. Apparently, he was also killed in the bath.

The painter Jacques-Louis David was a great friend of the revolutionary and so he wanted to portray Marat as a Christian martyr. David was inspired by the Renaissance movement and the classical scene of Deposition of Christ (or Deposition of the Cross)🇧🇷

This painting was one of Vermeer’s earliest works. At first there is nothing strange: a girl reading a letter by the window. But there are some hidden connotations. The apples in the fruit bowl symbolize the forbidden fruit of Adam and Eve, possibly referring to extramarital relationships, and the open window symbolized the desire to be freed from the domestic responsibilities that women had at that time.

But the mysteries don’t stop there. After studies with X-rays, it was possible to discover that on the wall there was originally the image of a Cupid, which the artist decided to paint it for some reason.

Vrubel claimed that his “sitting demon” was not the devil, but a romantic spirit, as the word “demon” can be translated from the Greek as “spirit”. It is a proud and free entity, not necessarily evil, which was in opposition to the earthly world. The “defeated devil” is wounded and weak. It reflects the author’s insanity. Vrubel’s psychological state worsened over time, so he had to repaint the painting a few times. He had problems with insomnia, as well as being obsessed with his work.

The painting was purchased by the famous collector Vladimir von Meck. After the sale, Vrubel went off the rails, spent all the money he was paid for the painting, drank non-stop, and ended up running off with his wife. After being diagnosed with mental disorders, the artist was hospitalized in a private clinic.

Frida had an accident at age 17. The bus she was on hit a streetcar head-on. The future artist had multiple injuries (triple fracture of the spine, femur, ribs, among others), which culminated in her inability to have children. Memories of this accident plagued Frida throughout her life.

In difficult moments, she decided to paint. That’s how the picture came about. The bus🇧🇷 The image shows people sitting at the bus stop, waiting for a ride, not even suspecting what was to come.

In March 2019, the framework Still Life with Lilac sold for nothing less…