8 Curiosities about paintings and artists that will delight even those who don’t like art

The art world in general does not cease to amaze us. Every time more secrets and curiosities appear, they delight all fans of this subject. Ancient paintings hide a lot of symbolism, and in most of them, almost everything has a reason. Painters also have some secrets that are discovered over time, and art in general does not stop changing and evolving, leaving curious facts behind.

At Incrível.club we have compiled for you eight fun facts about famous painters and paintings that we believe will surprise you.

Raphael was one of the artists who painted some human beings with six fingers. This was due to the Renaissance belief that people who had six fingers had a sixth sense through which they could predict the future. An example is his painting “Madonna Sistina”, in which the figure of Saint Sixtus has an extra finger painted.

The artist never signed his works because it seemed an arrogant and pretentious gesture, and everyone recognized his works just by seeing them. However, the only one he signed was “A Pietá”, since his sculpture was attributed to another artist, and its authorship was doubted due to its precocity. For this reason, he carved his name with a chisel into the ribbon that crosses the sculpture’s chest.

From 1912 to 1948, art competitions were part of the Olympic Games. They consisted of creating works inspired by sport, and the categories were: painting, sculpture, literature, music and architecture. They ended up being suppressed because artists were obliged to be professionals, something that was not valid for athletes. In the image you can see Alfred Hajós, one of only two medal winners in art and sport.

The Mona Lisa suffered terrible attacks at the Louvre, such as a stone on canvas on one occasion and acid on another. Therefore, it was decided to shield it with bulletproof glass, which protected the work from the impact of a glass in 2009.

This famous painting by Norwegian Edvard Munch has 4 versions and a lithograph. The most emblematic version is on display at the National Gallery of Norway, and was made with a mixed technique of oil and pastel on cardboard. The other two are at the Munch Museum in Oslo, and the technique used in them is tempera on cardboard. The room belongs to a private collection, and the technique the artist used is not exactly known.

Although we know the artist by a name shortened to Pablo Ruiz Picasso by himself, his full name is Pablo Diego José de Paula Juan Nepomuceno dos Remédios Cipriano da Santíssima Trindade Ruiz e Picasso.

The characters that the American Grant Wood represents in one of his most famous works, even becoming an icon in the popular culture of the 20th century, are his sister and his dentist. Although most people believe that the woman who appears is the farmer’s wife or daughter.

Thanks to a study carried out at Harvard University by the specialist in visual perception, Margaret S. Livingstone, it was proved that the squint that the Dutchman Rembrandt had in his left eye allowed him to paint in a more virtuous way. This deficiency allowed the artist to perceive reality as a flat image, which made it much easier to transfer it to the canvas.

Did you know these curiosities? Which one catches your attention the most?