These paintings are known even to those who are far from the world of art, because they are true masterpieces. And each of them hides some secret that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

And it seems that every stroke has already been studied inside and out, nevertheless, scientists are constantly discovering something new in these ancient paintings. Their authors left their descendants with unusual riddles that they managed to solve!

The editors of InPlanet have prepared a list of 12 legendary paintings that have kept secrets for many years and even centuries!

Portrait of the Arnolfini couple / Jan van Eyck (1434)

This portrait was the first in European history to depict a couple. He is a wonderful example of the era early Renaissance. Historians are still arguing about who is depicted on the canvas and what is happening there. Many are sure that this is a wedding, as indicated by some signs in the picture.

But the most interesting fragment is practically hidden from view - in the reflection of the mirror on the wall you can see the outlines of four people. It is vaguely clear that there is a man and a woman, and the signature is “Jan van Eyck was here.” Art critics believe that the artist depicted himself and his wife.

The Last Supper / Leonardo da Vinci (1495-1498)

This fresco is one of the most famous works of Leonardo da Vinci and also conceals many secrets. The most interesting mystery is hidden on the surface - in the images of Jesus and Judas.

The artist painted the remaining images with ease, but these two faces were the most difficult for him. For the face of Jesus, he was looking for the embodiment of goodness, and he was lucky - in the church choir he met a young singer. But the last unwritten stain remained Judas, and da Vinci sat for hours in eateries to select the ideal embodiment of evil. And finally, he was lucky - in a ditch he found a drunkard who could barely stand on his feet. He painted the image of Judas from it, but in the end he was surprised.

This man approached him and said that they had already met. Several years ago he was a singer in a choir and had already posed for Leonardo for this picture. So, one man began to personify good and evil.

Portrait of Lady Lisa del Giocondo / Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1505)

Perhaps the most mysterious painting ever painted is the Mona Lisa. For several centuries now, it has haunted art critics and historians, giving rise to increasingly wild and intriguing ideas for its creation.

Who is this woman with a mysterious smile and no eyebrows? It is traditionally believed that this is the wife of the merchant Francesco Giocondo. But there are several other theories that have a right to exist. For example, that the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of Leonardo himself. There is also a possibility that this painting was painted by da Vinci for himself, and the real painting was discovered in Aizerloot 100 years ago. This Mona Lisa more closely matches the description of the painting by Leonardo's contemporaries.

And more recently, scientists have suggested that the mysterious smile of the girl on the canvas is due to the fact that she had no teeth. By the way, the x-ray showed that she had eyebrows, but the restorations had significantly damaged them.

Creation of Adam / Michelangelo (1511)

Another Renaissance genius, Michelangelo, created his fresco for the Sistine Chapel, where it remains to this day. The subject for this part of the painting was a scene from Genesis called the creation of Adam. And there are many encrypted symbols on the fresco.

For example, if you look closely at the Creator who creates Adam, you can see... the human brain. Experts believe that in this way the artist drew an analogy of the Creator with the source of intelligence, or simply the brain. This theory is confirmed by the fact that Michelangelo was fond of anatomy and constantly conducted experiments on corpses.

Sistine Madonna / Raphael (1513-1514)

This huge painting, by Raphael, is an example supreme art Renaissance. The painting was commissioned by Pope Julius II and was located in the Piacenza monastery. Some art historians believe that this masterpiece was painted for the funeral of the pope.

Raphael encrypted many signs on the canvas, which historians managed to uncover. One of the obvious secrets of the Sistine Madonna is that in the background the artist depicted the faces of the cloud in the form of the faces of angels. Some historians believe that these are unborn souls.

Shore Scene / Hendrick van Antonissen (1641)

The painting by the famous Dutch marine painter Hendrik van Antonissen has long attracted the attention of art critics. This 17th century painting depicts a seemingly ordinary seascape. But the experts were confused a large number of people gathered on the shore for no apparent reason.

The truth was established with the help of an x-ray study, which established that in reality the painting depicted a whale. But the artist decided that people would be bored looking at the dead whale carcass, so he remade the painting. And with a whale, the canvas looks much more impressive!

The last day of Pompeii / Karl Bryullov (1830-1833)

Russian artist Karl Bryullov was impressed by the history of Pompeii while visiting Vesuvius in 1828. He was a very reserved person by nature, but then Karl was simply overwhelmed by emotions, he stayed in the destroyed city for four days and after a couple of years he began to paint his famous painting.

There is a special secret on the canvas - if you look closely, in the left corner you can see a self-portrait of the artist himself. He also captured his beloved, Countess Yulia Samoilova, with whom he was associated long relationship at least three times, possibly more. She can be seen as a mother holding her daughters to her chest, as a girl with a jug on her head, and as a girl lying on the ground.

Self-Portrait with a Pipe / Vincent van Gogh (1889)

Everyone knows the story of the cut off ear of the extravagant artist Vincent van Gogh. He even painted his self-portrait with a bandaged ear, which caused heated debate among art critics. It is still not known for certain whether he cut off his ear completely or injured it.

For a long time, experts were confused by the fact that in the painting Van Gogh is depicted with a bandage on his right ear, but he injured his left one. But the secret was revealed - the Dutch artist painted self-portraits while looking in the mirror, so there was confusion in the picture due to the mirror image.

Blue Room / Pablo Picasso (1901)

Now the names of these artists are known to everyone, but at the beginning of their careers they had to paint several paintings on one canvas - they could not afford to buy fabric. That is why many masterpieces have a so-called double bottom, for example, Pablo Picasso’s painting “The Blue Room”.

Using X-rays, it was possible to find out that a portrait of a man was drawn under the image. Art historians determine who this person was. According to one version, Picasso painted a self-portrait.

The Old Fisherman / Tivadar Kostka Chontvari (1902)

The Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Csontvary created many paintings during his life, but was little known. He suffered from bouts of schizophrenia, but still dreamed of Raphael's fame. Tivadar became famous after his death when the painting “The Old Fisherman” was deciphered, which has now become very popular. It was created in 1902 and is considered one of the artist’s most mysterious works.

At first glance, the canvas depicts an old man, as was believed for many years. Until one day it occurred to someone to look at the mirror image of the two halves of the old man’s face. Then it was revealed main secret this canvas - on it the master depicted God and the Devil, which exist in every person.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Gower / Gustav Klimt (1907)

This canvas is one of the most famous works Gustav Klimt. In 2006, the Golden Adele was bought for a fabulous sum - $135 million. Beautiful woman, depicted on it, was actually written for the sake of... revenge.

In 1904, the whole of Vienna, including her husband Ferdinand, was talking about the novel between Adele Bloch-Gower and Gustav Klimt. He came up with an unusual revenge and commissioned the artist to paint a portrait of his beloved wife. Ferdinand was very picky, and Klimt made more than 100 sketches. During this time, the artist became bored with his mistress, whose portrayal was so difficult, and their romance ended.

Black Square / Kazimir Malevich (1915)

One of the most famous and controversial Russian paintings is “Black Square” by Kazemir Malevich. Few understand the hidden meaning of this provocative painting. But perhaps it’s worth starting with the fact that the square is not square at all and not even black!

X-ray helped determine that under the “Black Square” there is another work by Malevich, on top of which he painted his masterpiece. For him, he prepared a special composition of matte and glossy paints, among which, by the way, there was no black shade. And, despite the fact that the sides of the so-called square are 79.5 cm long, the figure does not have a single right angle.

One way or another, the Mona Lisa remains one of the most mysterious paintings modernity. Perhaps we will never know what this or that artist wanted to tell us, or maybe even all the signs are just a coincidence...

To an exhibition of paintings by Aivazovsky. But now here, in Tretyakov Gallery, in the Engineering Building, a unique exhibition is being held Secrets of old paintings. When will you look again? reverse side paintings and learn that on the other side of the canvas, it turns out, there is also most interesting riddles. When else will they show you what is hidden under the main layer of the painting in X-ray radiation? When else will you see the sketches? famous paintings in which the plots and faces can be completely different?

Let's start with the most famous painting by Vasily Pukirev "Unequal Marriage". pay attention to young man with a beard who stands behind the bride. This is Vasily Pukirev himself and it was believed that this is the story of his unhappy love, when his bride was forced to marry Alexei Markovich Poltoratsky, who was the leader of the Tver nobility.

But...Let's look at the sketch of the painting and what do we see? Did you notice? Behind the bride is a similar, but slightly different person.

02.

This is Pukirev’s friend Sergei Mikhailovich Varentsov. He was in love with Sofya Nikolaevna Rybnikova, who was given in marriage to Andrei Aleksandrovich Karzinkin. And Varentsov was present at this wedding

03.

04. But what else do we see when analyzing the picture and history? It turns out that Andrei Karzinkin from the second version was only 37 years old at the time of the wedding, while Alexey Poltoratsky was quite an old man, which we see in the sketch “Head of an Old Man”, which was written for the painting. Although there are versions that the head was copied from Prince Pavel Tsitsianov or from the cook Vladimir Ivanovich, who served with the Varentsovs

05. And here, many years later, in 1907, a joker appears - a pencil drawing by V.D. Sukhov. And on it is the inscription: “Praskovya Matveevna Varentsova, with whom 44 years ago the artist V.V. Pukirev painted his famous painting “Unequal Marriage.” Mrs. Varentsova lives in Moscow, in the Mazurin almshouse.” So the mystery of the painting was solved

Go ahead. Here is Isaac Brodsky's painting "Park Alley", painted in 1930. It would seem that what is unusual about this? A park with Soviet people walking. But the researchers paid attention to trees whose crown was not very typical for Soviet parks

06.

The same painting by Brodsky from the Italian cycle “Park Alley in Rome”, written in 1911, was known. She was considered lost. And so the researchers decided to illuminate the painting “Park Alley” with X-rays. And what did they see? They saw the same painting “Park Alley in Rome” that was considered missing. Imagine 1930. The flywheel of repression begins to unwind. And a picture. praising bourgeois Italy could bring big problems to the artist. And Brodsky, slightly changing the figures of people, turns an Italian park into a Soviet park. But, thanks to X-rays and the tireless researchers of the Tretyakov Gallery, we can see the painting “Park Alley in Rome”. You can compare

07.

08. “Portrait of an unknown person in a cocked hat” by Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov. It would seem, what is unusual about it? Well, the face looks like a woman's. But there seems to be nothing more. It was believed that this was a portrait of Count Bobrinsky.

09. But no. X-ray revealed to us a woman’s face, presumably the wife of the landowner Struisky, Olimpiada Sergeevna Balbekova. She died at the age of 20

10. "Portrait of Elizaveta Petrovna in her youth" work unknown artist also seems to represent a classic portrait of the mid-18th century. This is a copy of the painting by the court painter L. Caravaque "Portrait of Tsarevna Elizaveta Petrovna in a man's suit"

11. But looking at the reverse side of the picture, we see a mirror portrait of Elizabeth with the inscription “Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess of Gdrnia in Her Young Late Late, which was after the Most Serene Empress of Gdrnia Elisavet Petrovna.” It is interesting that the portrait was painted on the thinnest canvas. This is the only job like this in the world

12.

13. A funny story is connected with the painting “The Nun” by Ilya Repin. This is Sofia Repina, who married the artist’s brother. But why is she depicted as a nun?

14. The fact is that, according to the recollections of the artist’s niece L.A. Shevtsova-Spore, Repin and Sophia quarreled, and the artist freaked out. Well creative person, It happens. I took it and remade it light portrait Sophia in a lace dress in a monastic style.

I guess I’ll stop here and won’t reveal the secrets of the other old paintings anymore. There must be a mystery for you. And, believe me, there are still a lot of secrets of various famous paintings that can be unraveled. So go, run urgently to this unique exhibition. It runs until August 21st. You still have time to catch it.

Thank you Grushenka , catherine_catty , lotta20 , balakina_ann , julia_lambert , da_dmitriy , nastyono4ka , bulyukina_e ,

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden of Earthly Delights", 1500-1510

Music on the buttocks

Fragment of the right side of the triptych

Salvador Dali's Revenge

In her 1949 book, Salvador Dali Through the Eyes of a Sister, she writes about her brother without any praise. The book infuriated Salvador. For another ten years after that, he angrily remembered her at every opportunity. And so, in 1954, the painting “A Young Virgin Indulging in the Sin of Sodomy with the Help of the Horns of Her Own Chastity” appeared. The woman’s pose, her curls, the landscape outside the window and the color scheme of the painting clearly echo “Figure at the Window.” There is a version that Dali took revenge on his sister for her book.

Two-faced Danae

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, "Danae", 1636 - 1647

Van Gogh's yellow bedroom

Vincent van Gogh, "Bedroom in Arles", 1888 - 1889

Researchers of Van Gogh's work explain this by the fact that the artist took foxglove, a remedy for epilepsy, which causes serious changes in the patient's perception of color: the entire surrounding reality is painted in green and yellow tones.

Toothless perfection

Leonardo da Vinci, “Portrait of Lady Lisa del Giocondo”, 1503 - 1519

Major on face control

Pavel Fedotov, “Major's Matchmaking”, 1848

Why is Liberty naked?

Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix, "Freedom on the Barricades", 1830

Non-square square

Kazimir Malevich, “Black Suprematist Square”, 1915

Old fisherman

Melodrama of the Austrian Mona Lisa

Gustav Klimt, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer”, 1907

Bloch-Bauer wanted the work to last several years, so that the sitter could see how Klimt's feelings were fading. He made a generous offer to the artist, which he could not refuse, and everything turned out according to the scenario of the deceived husband: the work was completed in 4 years, the lovers had long since cooled off to each other. Adele Bloch-Bauer never knew that her husband was aware of her relationship with Klimt.

The painting that brought Gauguin back to life

Paul Gauguin, “Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?", 1897-1898

The painting was painted by Gauguin in Tahiti, where the artist escaped from civilization several times. But this time life on the island did not work out: total poverty led him to depression. Having finished the canvas, which was to become his spiritual testament, Gauguin took a box of arsenic and went to the mountains to die. However, he did not calculate the dose, and the suicide failed. The next morning, he swayed to his hut and fell asleep, and when he woke up, he felt a forgotten thirst for life. And in 1898, his business began to improve, and a brighter period began in his work.

Nude Mona Lisa

Doubles at the Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper", 1495-1498

The innocent history of "Gothic"

Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930

"Night Watch" or "Day Watch"?

Rembrandt, "Night Watch", 1642

Overturned boat

Henri Matisse, "The Boat", 1937

Deception in self-portrait

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with a Pipe, 1889

Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"

Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863

Claude Monet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1865

Alien bears

Ivan Shishkin, “Morning in Pine forest", 1889

Savitsky drew perhaps the best bears in history Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered his name to be washed off the canvas, since everything in the painting “from the concept to the execution, everything speaks about the manner of painting, about creative method, characteristic of Shishkin."

Art is not only a way to express your inspiration, but also great secret. Artists often add curious little details to their paintings or leave “messages” that are difficult to notice the first time. We have compiled a list famous masterpieces paintings that hide unexpected secrets.

1. Wrong ear

Vincent van Gogh's self-portrait depicts the artist whose right ear is injured. But he actually cut off his left ear, not his right. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that Van Gogh used a mirror to create his own portrait.

2. The picture under the picture

If you look closely at Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, you can see a faint female silhouette behind the man's head. Researchers at the Art Institute of Chicago took infrared and x-ray images of this famous painting and discovered that several other drawings were hidden underneath it. Most likely, the artist did not have enough money to buy new canvases, and he had to paint on old ones.

3. The Night Watch depicts day, not night.

In 1947, the painting “Performance of a Rifle Company...” (better known as “Night Watch”) by Rembrandt was restored. After the painting was cleared of a thick layer of soot, it became obvious that the scene depicted in it did not take place at night, but in daylight.

4. Sistine Chapel

The image of the human brain is visible not only in Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, but also in another fresco called The Separation of Light and Darkness, which can be seen in Sistine Chapel. Look at God's neck: it matches the photograph of a human brain perfectly.

5. Symbol of strength

The figures of David and Goliath in Michelangelo's fresco form the Hebrew letter Gimel, which symbolizes strength in the mystical Kabbalistic tradition.

6. Rembrandt's squint

After studying Rembrandt's self-portraits, some scientists decided that the artist suffered from strabismus. This feature made him perceive the world a little differently: he saw reality in 2D instead of 3D. However, it may have been squint that helped Rembrandt create his immortal masterpieces.

7. Revenge on lovers

Gustav Klimt's most famous painting depicts Adele Bloch-Bauer. This portrait was commissioned by Adele's husband, sugar baron Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. He learned that Adele and Klimt were lovers, and decided that after hundreds of sketches the artist would hate his model. And the deceived husband turned out to be right. Working together really cooled the feelings between Adele and Gustav.

8. The World in Yellow

For almost all of his paintings, Vincent Van Gogh chose yellow. Scientists believe this is a side effect of an epilepsy drug that changes color perception. Perhaps the artist really saw the world as he depicted it on his canvases.

9. Foreseeing the end of the world

Italian researcher Sabrina Sforza Galizia offers a very unusual interpretation of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. She says that hidden in this painting is a prophecy of the end of the world, which will occur on March 21, 4006. The researcher made this conclusion by deciphering the mathematical and astrological codes of the picture.

But this is not the only secret of the Last Supper. The hands of Christ and the apostles, together with the bread on the table, form something similar to the designation of notes. It turned out that it really does sound like a melody.

10. Mozart and the Freemasons

There is strong evidence that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Freemason. Even in the child's portrait painted by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni, we see a Masonic symbol: a hidden hand indicating a hierarchical rank in a secret society.

11. Toothless Mona Lisa

Dentist and art critic Joseph Borkowski, having studied the painting of Leonardo da Vinci, is confident that he was able to reveal the secret of Gioconda’s smile. He believes that she was missing front teeth, and this is what affected her facial expression.

There are many masterpieces visual arts, known all over the world. But not everyone knows that some of them keep secrets that were discovered after the death of the creators of the works. Although there are secrets that were learned about during the artists’ lifetime, which makes the paintings even more mysterious and attractive.

1. Hieronymus Bosch, “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” 1500-1510.

2. Since the appearance of this masterpiece by the Dutch artist, debates have flared up more than once about the hidden meanings in it. Of particular interest has always been the sinner depicted on the right wing of the triptych, who has music notes imprinted on his buttocks. One of the students at Oklahoma Christian University named Amelia Hamrick decided to translate the 16th-century notation into a modern twist, and the “500-year-old ass song from hell” that appeared on the Internet became a real sensation.

3. "Mona Lisa"
Few people know that there are two versions of the well-known painting. One of them is called “Monna Vanna”, and its author is the student and model of Leonardo da Vinci, the little-known artist Salai. Art historians are confident that it was this young artist who served as the model for the great Leonardo when painting such paintings as “John the Baptist” and “Bacchus.” Some even suspect that it was Szalai who posed while painting the Mona Lisa, dressed in a woman’s dress.

4. "Old Fisherman"

5. This seemingly unremarkable painting was painted by the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Csontvary in 1902. But the subtext embedded in the picture was revealed only after the death of the author. If you place a mirror in the middle of the picture, you can see God on one side and the Devil on the other. So the artist tried to reflect the dual essence of each of us.

6. "The Last Supper"
When painting his painting Leonardo da Vinci Special attention devoted to the figures of Christ and Judas. One of the young singers was chosen as the model for the image of Christ, but the artist spent three whole years searching for a model for Judas. One day on the street Leonardo came across a drunkard whom he liked so much that he decided to paint Judas from him. Imagine the artist’s surprise when the drunkard, who had come to his senses, said that he had already posed for the master several years ago and it was from him that Leonardo painted Christ.

7. "American Gothic"
Many people find Grant Wood's work strange and depressing, although there is absolutely no subtext to it. The artist made this painting during a trip to Iowa when he saw a small Gothic-style house. Grant's sister and his dentist posed as characters in front of the house.

8. "Night Watch"
This painting by Rembrandt, “The Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg,” was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. This work was included in the treasury of world art under the name “Night Watch”, which it received due to the dark background against which the figures appear. In 1947, the painting was restored, and it was then that the layer of soot with which it was covered was discovered. Having cleared the original, it was revealed that the artist meant a daytime scene, judging by the position of the shadow from the left hand of the central figure at approximately 14 o'clock.

9. "Boat"
In 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" hung upside down in New York's Museum of Modern Art for 47 days. The painting shows 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. When it was discovered that the second sail was just a reflection of the first on the surface of the water, it became clear that the picture was hung incorrectly. The top of the picture should be a large sail.

10. “Self-portrait with a pipe”
Although many believe that Van Gogh cut off his own ear, art historians are confident that the artist injured his ear in a fight with the artist Paul Gauguin. Considering that the self-portrait reflects a distorted reality due to the fact that it was painted using a mirror, in fact the artist’s left ear was damaged.

11. “Breakfast on the grass.” Two French artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are often confused. This is not surprising, because even the title of Manet’s painting “Lunch on the Grass” was borrowed by Monet and painted in his own “Lunch on the Grass”.

12. Claude Monet, “Breakfast on the Grass.”

13. “Morning in a pine forest”
As it turned out, not only Shishkin worked on this well-known picture. Since the artist, who specialized in painting landscapes, could not produce bears, he turned to animal artist Konstantin Savitsky for help.