Her mysterious smile is captivating. Some see in her divine beauty, other - secret signs, third - a challenge to norms and society. But everyone agrees on one thing - there is something mysterious and attractive about her.
What is the secret of Mona Lisa? There are countless versions. Here are the most common and intriguing ones.
This mysterious masterpiece has puzzled researchers and art historians for centuries. Now Italian scientists have added another layer of intrigue, claiming that da Vinci left a series of very small letters and numbers in the painting. When viewed under a microscope, the letters LV can be seen in the Mona Lisa's right eye.
And in the left eye there are also some symbols, but not as noticeable as the others. They resemble the letters CE, or the letter B.
On the arch of the bridge in the background of the painting there is an inscription either “72” or “L2” or the letter L, and the number 2. Also in the painting there is the number 149 and the fourth erased number after them.
Today this painting, measuring 77x53 cm, is kept in the Louvre behind thick bulletproof glass. The image, made on a poplar board, is covered with a network of craquelures. It has gone through a number of not very successful restorations and has noticeably darkened over five centuries. However, the older the painting becomes, the more people it attracts: the Louvre is visited by 8-9 million people annually.
And Leonardo himself did not want to part with the Mona Lisa, and perhaps this is the first time in history when the author did not give the work to the customer, despite the fact that he took the fee. The first owner of the painting - after the author - King Francis I of France was also delighted with the portrait. He bought it from da Vinci for incredible money at that time - 4,000 gold coins and placed it in Fontainebleau.
Napoleon was also fascinated by Madame Lisa (as he called Gioconda) and took her to his chambers in the Tuileries Palace. And the Italian Vincenzo Perugia stole a masterpiece from the Louvre in 1911, took it home and hid with her for two whole years until he was detained while trying to hand over the painting to the director of the Uffizi Gallery... In a word, at all times the portrait of a Florentine lady attracted, hypnotized, and delighted. ..
What is the secret of her attractiveness?
Version No. 1: classic
We find the first mention of the Mona Lisa in the author of the famous Lives, Giorgio Vasari. From his work we learn that Leonardo undertook to “make for Francesco del Giocondo a portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife, and, after working on it for four years, left it unfinished.”
The writer admires the artist’s skill, his ability to show “the smallest details that the subtlety of painting can convey,” and most importantly, his smile, which “is given so pleasant that it seems as if one is contemplating a divine rather than a human being.” The art historian explains the secret of her charm by saying that “while painting the portrait, he (Leonardo) held people who were playing the lyre or singing, and there were always jesters who kept her cheerful and removed the melancholy that painting usually imparts to the portraits being painted.” There is no doubt: Leonardo is an unsurpassed master, and the crown of his mastery is this divine portrait. In the image of his heroine there is a duality inherent in life itself: the modesty of the pose is combined with a bold smile, which becomes a kind of challenge to society, canons, art...
But is this really the wife of the silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, whose surname became the middle name of this mysterious lady? Is it true that the story about the musicians who created the right mood for our heroine? Skeptics dispute all this, citing the fact that Vasari was an 8-year-old boy when Leonardo died. He could not personally know the artist or his model, so he presented only information given by the anonymous author of the first biography of Leonardo. Meanwhile, the writer also encounters controversial passages in other biographies. Take, for example, the story of Michelangelo's broken nose. Vasari writes that Pietro Torrigiani hit a classmate because of his talent, and Benvenuto Cellini explains the injury with his arrogance and impudence: while copying Masaccio's frescoes, during the lesson he ridiculed every image, for which he received a punch in the nose from Torrigiani. Cellini's version is supported by the complex character of Buonarroti, about whom there were legends.
Version No. 2: Chinese mother
Lisa del Giocondo (nee Gherardini) really existed. Italian archaeologists even claim to have found her tomb in the monastery of St. Ursula in Florence. But is she in the picture? A number of researchers claim that Leonardo painted the portrait from several models, because when he refused to give the painting to the fabric merchant Giocondo, it remained unfinished. The master spent his whole life improving his work, adding features of other models - thereby obtaining a collective portrait ideal woman of his era.
Italian scientist Angelo Paratico went further. He is sure that Mona Lisa is Leonardo's mother, who was actually...Chinese. The researcher spent 20 years in the East studying communications local traditions with the Italian Renaissance, and discovered documents showing that Leonardo's father, the notary Piero, had a wealthy client, and he had a slave whom he brought from China. Her name was Katerina - she became the mother of the Renaissance genius. It is precisely by the fact that eastern blood flowed in Leonardo’s veins that the researcher explains the famous “Leonardo’s handwriting” - the master’s ability to write from right to left (this is how entries were made in his diaries). The researcher also saw oriental features in the model’s face and in the landscape behind her. Paratico suggests exhuming Leonardo's remains and testing his DNA to confirm his theory.
The official version says that Leonardo was the son of the notary Piero and the “local peasant woman” Katerina. He could not marry a rootless woman, but took as his wife a girl from a noble family with a dowry, but she turned out to be barren. Katerina raised the child for the first few years of his life, and then the father took his son into his home. Almost nothing is known about Leonardo's mother. But, indeed, there is an opinion that the artist, separated from his mother in early childhood, all his life he tried to recreate the image and smile of his mother in his paintings. This assumption was made by Sigmund Freud in his book “Memories of Childhood. Leonardo da Vinci" and it gained many supporters among art historians.
Version No. 3: Mona Lisa is a man
Viewers often note that in the image of Mona Lisa, despite all the tenderness and modesty, there is some kind of masculinity, and the face of the young model, almost devoid of eyebrows and eyelashes, seems boyish. The famous Mona Lisa researcher Silvano Vincenti believes that this is no accident. He is sure that Leonardo posed ... as a young man in a woman's dress. And this is none other than Salai - a student of da Vinci, who was painted by him in the paintings “John the Baptist” and “Angel in the Flesh”, where the young man is endowed with the same smile as the Mona Lisa. The art historian, however, made this conclusion not only because external resemblance models, and after studying photographs in high resolution, which made it possible to see Vincenti in the eyes of the model L and S - the first letters of the names of the author of the picture and the young man depicted on it, according to the expert.
"John the Baptist" by Leonardo Da Vinci (Louvre)
This version is also supported by a special relationship - Vasari also hinted at it - between the model and the artist, which may have connected Leonardo and Salai. Da Vinci was not married and had no children. At the same time, there is a denunciation document in which an anonymous person accuses the artist of sodomy of a certain 17-year-old boy Jacopo Saltarelli.
Leonardo had several students, with some of whom he was more than close, according to a number of researchers. Freud also discusses Leonardo's homosexuality, and he supports this version with a psychiatric analysis of his biography and the diary of the Renaissance genius. Da Vinci's notes about Salai are also considered as an argument in favor. There is even a version that da Vinci left a portrait of Salai (since the painting is mentioned in the will of the master’s student), and from him the painting came to Francis I.
By the way, the same Silvano Vincenti put forward another assumption: that the painting depicts a certain woman from the retinue of Louis Sforza, at whose court in Milan Leonardo worked as an architect and engineer in 1482-1499. This version appeared after Vincenti saw the numbers 149 on the back of the canvas. This, according to the researcher, is the date the painting was painted, only the last number has been erased. It is traditionally believed that the master began painting Gioconda in 1503.
However, there are many other candidates for the title of Mona Lisa who compete with Salai: these are Isabella Gualandi, Ginevra Benci, Constanza d'Avalos, the libertine Caterina Sforza, a certain secret lover of Lorenzo de' Medici and even Leonardo's nurse.
Version No. 4: Gioconda is Leonardo
Another unexpected theory, which Freud hinted at, was confirmed in the research of the American Lillian Schwartz. The Mona Lisa is a self-portrait, Lilian is sure. Artist and Graphic Consultant at the School visual arts in New York in the 1980s, she compared the famous “Turin Self-Portrait” by a very middle-aged artist and a portrait of Mona Lisa and discovered that the proportions of faces (head shape, distance between the eyes, forehead height) were the same.
And in 2009, Lilian, together with amateur historian Lynn Picknett, presented the public with another incredible sensation: she claims that the Shroud of Turin is nothing more than an imprint of Leonardo’s face, made using silver sulfate using the camera obscura principle.
However, not many supported Lilian in her research - these theories are not among the most popular, unlike the following assumption.
Version No. 5: a masterpiece with Down syndrome
Gioconda suffered from Down's disease - this was the conclusion that English photographer Leo Vala came to in the 1970s after he came up with a method to “turn” the Mona Lisa in profile.
At the same time, the Danish doctor Finn Becker-Christiansson diagnosed Gioconda with congenital facial paralysis. An asymmetrical smile, in his opinion, speaks of mental deviations up to and including idiocy.
In 1991, the French sculptor Alain Roche decided to embody the Mona Lisa in marble, but it didn’t work out. It turned out that from a physiological point of view, everything in the model is wrong: the face, the arms, and the shoulders. Then the sculptor turned to the physiologist, Professor Henri Greppo, and he attracted a specialist in hand microsurgery, Jean-Jacques Conte. Together, they came to the conclusion that the mysterious woman’s right hand did not rest on her left because it was possibly shorter and could be prone to cramps. Conclusion: the right half of the model’s body is paralyzed, which means the mysterious smile is also just a spasm.
Gynecologist Julio Cruz y Hermida collected a complete “medical record” of Gioconda in his book “A Look at Gioconda Through the Eyes of a Doctor.” The result was such a terrible picture that it is unclear how this woman even lived. According to various researchers, she suffered from alopecia (hair loss), high level cholesterol in the blood, exposure of the neck of the teeth, their loosening and loss, and even alcoholism. She had Parkinson's disease, a lipoma (a benign fatty tumor on her right arm), strabismus, cataracts and iris heterochromia (different eye colors), and asthma.
However, who said that Leonardo was anatomically accurate - what if the secret of genius lies precisely in this disproportion?
Version No. 6: a child under the heart
There is another polar “medical” version - pregnancy. American gynecologist Kenneth D. Keel is sure that Mona Lisa crossed her arms over her stomach reflexively trying to protect her unborn baby. The probability is high, because Lisa Gherardini had five children (the first-born, by the way, was named Pierrot). A hint of the legitimacy of this version can be found in the title of the portrait: Ritratto di Monna Lisa del Giocondo (Italian) - “Portrait of Mrs. Lisa Giocondo.” Monna is short for ma donna - Madonna, Mother of God (although it also means “my mistress”, lady). Art critics often explain the genius of the painting precisely because it depicts an earthly woman in the image of the Mother of God.
Version No. 7: iconographic
However, the theory that the Mona Lisa is an icon has no place Mother of God occupied by an earthly woman, popular in her own right. This is the genius of the work and therefore it has become a symbol of the beginning of a new era in art. Used to be art served the church, government and nobility. Leonardo proves that the artist stands above all this, that the most valuable thing is the creative idea of the master. And the great idea is to show the duality of the world, and the means for this is the image of the Mona Lisa, which combines divine and earthly beauty.
Version No. 8: Leonardo - creator of 3D
This combination was achieved using a special technique invented by Leonardo - sfumato (from Italian - “disappearing like smoke”). It was this painting technique, when paints are applied layer by layer, that allowed Leonardo to create an aerial perspective in the painting. The artist applied countless layers of these, and each one was almost transparent. Thanks to this technique, light is reflected and scattered differently across the canvas, depending on the viewing angle and the angle of incidence of the light. That’s why the model’s facial expression is constantly changing.
The Mona Lisa is the first 3D painting in history, researchers conclude. Another technical breakthrough of a genius who foresaw and tried to implement many inventions that were implemented centuries later ( aircraft, tank, diving suit, etc.). This is evidenced by the version of the portrait stored in the Prado Museum in Madrid, painted either by da Vinci himself or by his student. It depicts the same model - only the angle is shifted by 69 cm. Thus, experts believe, there was a search for the desired point in the image, which will give the 3D effect.
Version No. 9: secret signs
Secret signs are a favorite topic of Mona Lisa researchers. Leonardo is not just an artist, he is an engineer, inventor, scientist, writer, and probably encrypted some universal secrets in his best painting. The most daring and incredible version was voiced in the book and then in the film “The Da Vinci Code.” This is, of course, a fiction novel. However, researchers are constantly making equally fantastic assumptions based on certain symbols found in the painting.
Many speculations stem from the fact that there is another one hidden under the image of the Mona Lisa. For example, the figure of an angel, or a feather in the hands of a model. There is also an interesting version by Valery Chudinov, who discovered in the Mona Lisa the words Yara Mara - the name of the Russian pagan goddess.
Version No. 10: cropped landscape
Many versions are also related to the landscape against which the Mona Lisa is depicted. Researcher Igor Ladov discovered a cyclical nature in it: it seems worth drawing several lines to connect the edges of the landscape. Just a couple of centimeters are missing for everything to come together. But in the version of the painting from the Prado Museum there are columns, which, apparently, were also in the original. Nobody knows who cropped the picture. If you return them, the image develops into a cyclical landscape, which symbolizes what human life(in a global sense) enchanted just like everything in nature...
It seems that there are as many versions of the solution to the mystery of the Mona Lisa as there are people trying to explore the masterpiece. There was a place for everything: from admiration for unearthly beauty to recognition of complete pathology. Everyone finds something of their own in Mona Lisa and, perhaps, this is where the multidimensionality and semantic multi-layeredness of the canvas is manifested, which gives everyone the opportunity to turn on their imagination. Meanwhile, the secret of Mona Lisa remains the property of this mysterious lady, with a slight smile on her lips...
Today, experts say that the elusive half-smile of Gioconda is a deliberately created effect that Leonardo da Vinci used more than once. This version arose after it was recently discovered early work"La Bella Principessa" ("The Beautiful Princess"), in which the artist uses a similar optical illusion.
The mystery of Mona Lisa's smile is that it is noticeable only when the viewer looks above the woman's mouth in the portrait, but as soon as one looks at the smile itself, it disappears. Scientists explain this by an optical illusion, which is created by a complex combination of colors and shades. This is facilitated by the features peripheral vision person.
Da Vinci created the effect of an elusive smile using the so-called "sfumato" technique ("vague", "indefinite") - blurred outlines and specially applied shadows around the lips and eyes visually change depending on the angle at which a person looks at the picture. Therefore, the smile appears and disappears.
For a long time, scientists debated whether this effect was created consciously and intentionally. The portrait “La Bella Principessa” discovered in 2009 allows us to prove that da Vinci practiced this technique long before the creation of “La Gioconda”. On the girl's face there is the same barely noticeable half-smile, like the Mona Lisa.
Comparing the two paintings, scientists came to the conclusion that da Vinci also used the effect of peripheral vision there: the shape of the lips visually changes depending on the viewing angle. If you look directly at the lips, the smile is not noticeable, but if you look higher, the corners of the mouth seem to rise up, and the smile appears again.
Psychology professor and expert in the field visual perception Alessandro Soranzo (Great Britain) writes: “The smile disappears as soon as the viewer tries to catch it.” Under his leadership, scientists conducted a number of experiments.
To demonstrate the optical illusion in action, volunteers were asked to look at da Vinci’s paintings from different distances and, for comparison, at the painting “Portrait of a Girl” by his contemporary Pollaiuolo. The smile was only noticeable in Da Vinci's paintings, depending on a certain angle of view. When blurring images, the same effect was observed. Professor Soranzo has no doubt that this was intentionally created by da Vinci optical illusion, and he developed this technique over several years.
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There are many rumors surrounding the personality of Leonardo da Vinci. Some believe that the Italian was mentally ill, others are sure that he communicated with aliens or practiced black magic. Still, everyone agrees that he was a genius and one of the best minds of humanity.
The modern world knows many of da Vinci’s works: his inventions, paintings and experiments. The master also left notes for his descendants, which historians called prose works.
For a long time, humanity could not decipher these messages, considering them an extinct language or gobbledygook that has no meaning. The answer to the code was discovered only at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The statement “everything ingenious is simple” became the key this time too. As it turned out, to read what was written by da Vinci’s hand, it was worth using a mirror.
Displayed in it, the words acquired a normal appearance familiar to modern Italians, which made it possible to make out the notes without difficulty. Having done this, historians were horrified. Most of the works were about the future.
Some phrases have already come true - da Vinci predicted the appearance of:
- flying technology;
- telephone communication;
- cars;
- submarines;
- two-handed saw;
- agricultural machines.
Among the prophecies of the genius there are also those that plunge you into Shock!
Several notes write about terrible events:
- “sea water will flood the cities, rising to the tops of the mountains”;
- “the earth will open up, beasts will emerge from it, with which humanity will fight”;
- “babies will be taken away and brutally killed”;
- “birds and snakes will begin to fight at high altitudes”;
- “half of the men will lose their testes and become infertile”;
- “Some people will have to hide from daylight and live as families in caves.”
Leonardo also wrote about the fact that people will learn to walk without moving (apparently, teleport), communicate with those who are not nearby (perhaps via Skype) and hear those who do not speak (maybe read minds).
Secrets of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings
The master shrouded his canvases in mystery with the help of images and mysteries hidden in them. Art historians are still studying the masterpieces of the Renaissance master, and new clues are constantly being published in the media.
The Argentine historian Hugo Conti was the first to try the mirror method not only with da Vinci’s prose, but also with his paintings. Conti, together with a group of volunteers, studied the master’s works for several months. The resulting amazing findings are both frightening and fascinating.
As it turns out, the characters in da Vinci’s paintings are not looking into space. Their gestures or glances point to certain places. If you hold a mirror to them, you can see strange images and figures.
Conti found whole line demons in the painting “St. Anne with the Madonna and Child Jesus.”
On the canvas “John the Baptist” there is a “tree of life” with an Indian deity.
On the famous “Mona Lisa” there is a head in a helmet in the place where the girl points her finger.
“The Annunciation” is an angelic work of the artist.
There is also an opinion that near the head of the Mona Lisa you can find the faces of animals, and on the Last Supper there is an image of the Holy Grail. The rest of the paintings are no less mystical.
Conti is confident that it will be possible to find the hidden pattern on each of them.
Anyone can do this. All you have to do is print out a photograph of a painting and run a mirror over it until you come across something strange. Or you can use Photoshop by selecting “mirror mode” and placing two layers with the same picture on top of each other.
Some information about Leonardo's paintings is no less surprising than the secrets kept in them.
The most interesting facts are:
If you look at the Mona Lisa's eyes under a magnifying glass, you can see numbers and letters. Art historians believe that they indicate the date of creation of the portrait, years of life, as well as the initials of the artist.
The look of the “Mona Lisa” is written in such a way that no matter what angle the viewer stands at, it feels as if the girl is looking exactly at him.
Judas and Christ depicted at the Last Supper are one person, they are both copied from a specific sitter.
There are still a lot of guesses, which many successfully disguise as “facts,” but there is no reliable evidence for them.
Works of art can carry a certain hidden meaning, which can sometimes be deciphered. We offer you a selection of ten masterpieces of painting in which secret signs were found.
1. "Mona Lisa": there is a hidden code in her eyes
As a rule, the power of the Mona Lisa is attributed to the intriguing smile depicted on the woman’s face. However, historians from Italy have discovered that if you look at Gioconda's eyes under a microscope, you can see letters and numbers in them.
Experts say these subtle numbers and letters represent something like the Da Vinci Code real life: the letters “LV” are visible in the right eye, which may well mean the name of the artist, Leonardo da Vinci, and there are also symbols in the left eye, but they have not yet been identified. It is very difficult to see them clearly, but most likely they are either the letters "CE" or the letter "B".
In the arch of the bridge in the background you can see the number 72, or it could be the letter "L" and two. In addition, the painting shows the number 149 with the four erased, which may indicate the date of creation of the painting - da Vinci painted it during his stay in Milan in the 1490s.
It is important to remember that the painting is almost 500 years old, so the hidden signs are not visible as clearly and clearly as they might have been immediately after its creation.
2. “The Last Supper”: hidden in the picture are mathematical and astrological puzzles and a musical melody
The Last Supper has been the subject of much speculation, usually centered on supposed hidden messages and hints encrypted in the painting.
Slavisa Pesci, an information technologist, achieved an interesting visual effect by superimposing a mirrored, translucent version of the painting on top of the original. As a result, two Templar-like figures appeared at both ends of the table, and another person became visible to the left of Jesus - possibly a woman holding a baby in her arms.
Italian musician Giovanni Maria Pala pointed out that the position of the hands and bread can be interpreted as notes in piece of music, and if read from right to left, as was typical of Leonardo’s writing style, then they form a musical composition.
Vatican researcher Sabrina Sforza Galizia says she has deciphered the "mathematical and astrological" puzzle contained in The Last Supper. According to her, the artist predicted a global flood and the coming end of the world, which would begin on March 21, 4006 and end on November 1 of the same year - she believes that this will be the beginning of a new era for humanity.
3. “The Creation of Adam”: the divine origin of intelligence
"The Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo has stood the test of time not only as the most famous fresco Sistine Chapel, but also as one of the most iconic images in human history.
Michelangelo is recognized as one of greatest artists and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, but it is not so widely known that he carefully studied anatomy and, at the age of 17, dismembered corpses dug up in a church cemetery.
American neuroanatomy experts believe that Michelangelo actually used some anatomical knowledge when working on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
Although some may consider this a coincidence, experts suggest that Michelangelo could hardly have painted something like this in the painting by accident: in the fresco you can even see the outlines of such complex parts brain, such as the cerebellum, optic nerve and pituitary gland. And in the very figure of Adam, stretching out his hand to God, one can see the outlines of the pons and spine.
4. Sistine Chapel frescoes: some of them show parts of the human brain
As with the Creation of Adam, among the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel there is another painting of the figure of God containing a secret message.
Experts have noticed that God's chest and neck have anatomical irregularities that no other human figure in the paintings has. In addition, while most of the figures are illuminated diagonally from the lower left edge, the sun's rays fall on God's neck at a right angle - the researchers came to the conclusion that the genius made such an inaccuracy intentionally.
If we superimpose the image of God's strange neck on a photograph of a human brain, it becomes clear that the contours of both images are almost exactly the same, and the strange rectangle of tissue extending to the center of God's robe may symbolize the spinal cord.
Michelangelo also depicted other anatomical features in some places on the ceiling, particularly the kidney, which was of particular interest to Michelangelo as the artist suffered from kidney stones.
5. “Madonna with Saint Giovannino”: UFO traces
“Madonna with Saint Giovannino” by Domenico Ghirlandaio has an interesting detail: a strangely shaped drop is floating in the sky above Mary’s left shoulder.
In this place of the picture, a board-shaped object, possibly shiny, is clearly visible - the artist depicted this object to the smallest detail, trying to place it in his work so that it catches the eye. In addition, on the right side of the picture we see a man who brought right hand to the eyes, showing how bright this object is, and in the upper left corner we see an object similar to the sun.
Madonna with Saint Giovannino is just one of many medieval paintings that depict strange, disturbing unidentified flying objects hovering in the skies.
6. “The Prophet Zechariah”: the power of religion
The tension between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo is documented in historical documents. Historians note that Michelangelo depicted the pope in one of his paintings as the prophet Zechariah, and one of the angels behind him shows an extremely obscene gesture.
The figure in which the fingers of a lovely little child are folded is called a “fig”, but its meaning is not at all as sweet as the name: holding thumb between the index and middle fingers, it shows an old world gesture that has retained its meaning to this day. In the West, the gesture is not so common, but in Russia its meaning is well known.
7. “David and Goliath”: mystical signs of Kabbalah
Analyzing the arrangement of figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which covers an area of 1,300 km², scientists have discovered shapes similar to Hebrew letters: for example, the figures of David and Goliath form the letter “Gimel”, symbolizing “strength” in the mystical tradition of Kabbalah.
Researchers believe Michelangelo was introduced to Judaism while at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, and the entire Sistine Chapel, perhaps built to the same proportions as the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, is a "lost mystical message of universal love" intended for decryption.
8. “Flemish Proverbs”: the film contains 112 Dutch idioms
Flemish Proverbs is an oil on oak panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, filled with symbols relating to Dutch proverbs of the time.
A total of 112 idioms were found and deciphered in the picture: some of them are still used, for example, “swim against the tide”, “ big fish eats small fish,” “banging your head against the wall,” and “arming yourself to the teeth.”
Other proverbs point to human stupidity. Some symbols seem to convey the meaning of more than one figure of speech, for example, the man shearing sheep to the left of center at the bottom of the picture sits next to a man slaughtering a pig, and this scene symbolizes the expression "Someone is shearing sheep, and someone else is - pigs,” which means that one person has an advantage over others. The scene can also mean “Cut, but don’t skin,” that is, it warns not to go too far when using your abilities.
9. “Supper at Emmaus”: Christian vow of silence
"Supper at Emmaus" - painting by Caravaggio, Italian artist of the Baroque era. The painting depicts the moment when the resurrected Jesus is incognito in the city of Emmaus, but meets two of his disciples there and breaks bread with them, after which they recognize him.
The picture is unusual in that the figures of people are depicted on a dark empty background in life-size, and at the very edge of the table there is a basket of food, which seems about to fall. There is also a strange shadow, similar to the silhouette of a fish, which may indicate a vow of silence as obligatory for Christians.
10. “Portrait of Young Mozart”: signs of the Masons
Of course, works of art have not avoided the theme of Freemasonry: portraits of people hiding their hands can indicate dedication to a cause or level of hierarchy. An example is the portrait of Mozart painted by Antonio Lorenzoni.
Often, looking at pictures famous artists, we just glance at them. But if you look closely paintings pay more attention, we will discover many unexpected things. It’s as if the artists are playing hide and seek with the audience: will they see everything depicted and unsaid? Here are just some of the masterpieces of painting that contain secret signs.
And again "Mona Lisa"
Usually the secret in the portrait of Mona Lisa is seen in the mysterious smile of the woman depicted in it. But recently, Italian scientists and art historians, when studying the eyes of the Mona Lisa painted by the artist under a microscope, identified letters and numbers. This is how the new “Da Vinci Code” appeared.The barely visible letters LV in the right eye most likely signify the artist's name. In the left eye of Mona Lisa the letters CE are visible (another reading is B). What they mean is not yet clear. In the background of the painting is a landscape. On the arch of the bridge, when zoomed in, you can see the number 72. Perhaps the number 72 is taken from the Bible. But this hypothesis requires careful analysis. However, this cryptogram can also be the letter L with a two next to it.
Puzzles and music of the Last Supper
Despite the fact that Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco “The Last Supper” in Milan is often the object of fiction and fantasy, many serious researchers find subtexts and “messages” in individual images and the painting as a whole.
By superimposing a mirrored translucent version of the painting on top of the original, Hungarian information technologists received a new projection of the canvas. In the new depiction of the Last Supper, two knight-like figures became visible at both ends of the table. Who is this? Historians say that these men are similar to the Templars. Well, to the left of Jesus you can see the outlines of a woman holding a child in her arms. Perhaps these are sketches of another fresco by Leonardo, where the Virgin Mary was depicted.
It is known that Leonardo da Vinci wrote notes from right to left, and even in mirror image. This is how he encrypted many of his texts. And so Italian composer Giovanni Maria Pala realized that the position of the hands of Christ and the apostles sitting at the table, as well as the bread and other meager food on it, could be read like notes in a musical notation. When tested, the notes sounded like a short melody.
But Sabrina Galicia Cherubini, a researcher at one of the Vatican academies, believes that she was able to solve the mathematical and astrological puzzle encrypted in “The Last Supper.” She argues that in the figures of Christ and the apostles and their arrangement, Leonardo left us a message concerning the coming Flood and the end of the world that would follow. Terrible events will begin, however, not soon: March 21, 4006; and will end on November 1 of the same year.
Divine brain...
Michelangelo Buonarroti is perhaps the greatest artist, sculptor, architect and poet of the Italian Renaissance. During his life he managed to create many masterpieces. If Leonardo da Vinci left more projects and ideas, Michelangelo embodied canvases and sculptures in painting and marble that became a real treasure of humanity.For our story, it is important that as a 17-year-old boy, Michelangelo studied human anatomy in detail and for this purpose even dismembered corpses dug up in cemeteries by beggars who were ready to do anything for money.
Magnificently created brilliant Italian paintings of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The fresco “The Creation of Adam” among these incredible in area and greatest in artistic merit paintings on the ceiling is one of iconic masterpieces visual arts in the history of mankind.
If we look closely at the right side of the fresco, where God is depicted with angels in a cloud, extending his hand to Adam, we will see... a cross-sectional drawing of a human brain. Some art historians talk about a simple coincidence, but scientists argue that Michelangelo could hardly have painted this by accident.
In those days, any image had a second and even third meaning. In addition, on the fresco you can even see the outlines of such parts of the brain as the optic nerve, pituitary gland, and cerebellum. And in the very figure of Adam, stretching out his hand to God, the outlines of the Varoliev bridge and the spine are distinguished. By the way, American experts, neuroanatomists, claim that Michelangelo really used his anatomical knowledge when working on this and other frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
...and the human brain
But among the paintings of the Sistine Chapel there is another fresco of God, which contains an encrypted image of the brain. Obviously, all these messages of Michelangelo say that there is a Divine and a human mind and that, as the Bible writes, “in the beginning was the Word.”Art historians have noted that the depicted chest and neck of God have some anatomical distortions that are not found in any human figure in the chapel frescoes. It is interesting that if most of the painted figures seem to be illuminated diagonally from the lower left edge to the upper right, then the depicted light falls on God’s neck at a right angle.
Why did Michelangelo do this? He probably acted quite deliberately. After all, if you combine a scanned image of a human brain with the strange neck of God, you can see that the contours of both drawings almost completely coincide. At the same time, a strange rectangle of fabric, “hanging” down to the middle of God’s garments, is very similar to the spinal cord.
The great Michelangelo even painted individual organs of the human body in inconspicuous places on the vaults of the Sistine Chapel, for example, human kidneys. By the way, it is known that Michelangelo suffered from urolithiasis.
Kabbalistic signs
Italian scholars believe that Michelangelo knew Judaism well, and in particular Kabbalah, its mystical teaching. He apparently met and conversed with Jewish sages while serving at the court of Aorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent in Florence. After all, while studying the location of images of human bodies on the ceiling of the same Sistine Chapel, researchers discovered Hebrew letters. This is no joke: for example, the figures of David and Goliath form the letter “Gimel,” symbolizing strength in the mystical tradition of Kabbalah.Perhaps the entire Sistine Chapel models the proportions of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and is essentially a mystical message about the need for universal love.
Revenge of a genius
The difficult relationship between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II is well known. Michelangelo, as art critics now believe, decided to subtly take revenge on the wayward head of the Church. He painted it on one of his paintings in the image of the prophet Zechariah. The angel behind the holy father shows the viewer (and therefore the pope behind his back) an obscene gesture. The angel's fingers are folded into a shape. But such a gesture does not simply mean “did you see this?” This is an occult code that drives away evil spirits.UFO over Madonna
Less known to the general public Italian artist Domenico Ghirlandaio is interesting to us because of a strange detail in his painting “Madonna with Saint Giovannino”. In the painting, a very large drop of water flies in the sky above the left shoulder of the Virgin Mary. unusual shape. The artist tried to depict this immediately noticeable disc-shaped object in great detail. For what? And on the right side of the picture there is a picture of a man raising his right hand to his eyes. It seems to show us how brightly the mysterious object glows. By the way, the sun is placed in the upper left corner of the picture.It should be noted that the Madonna with Saint Giovannino is just one of many paintings and frescoes from the Renaissance and Middle Ages that depict strange unidentified flying objects in the sky.
112 proverbs
Pieter Bruegel the Elder's famous painting "Flemish Proverbs", executed on wood, is full of symbols associated with Dutch proverbs and expressions of the time. The researchers found and deciphered 112 drawn sayings. Some expressions are well known among other nations: “banging your head against the wall,” “arming yourself to the teeth,” “swimming against the tide,” and so on.
Some proverbs are very ambiguous. Thus, in the picture, a man shearing sheep sits next to another man slaughtering a pig. This is like an illustration of the expression “Someone shears sheep, and someone else shears pigs” (one has an advantage over the other). But this same drawing can also mean the proverb “Cut the hair, but don’t remove the skin,” that is, it calls not to overdo it, not to do anything stupid.
We have talked only about some of the paintings that contain hints, codes and hidden meanings. Attentive people see and understand all this.
Famous paintings and hidden codes hidden in them:
1. Mona Lisa: the real hidden code in her eyes
The intrigue usually lies in her mysterious smile. However, when examining the painting under a microscope, historians in Italy discovered that when they pointed a magnifying glass at the Mona Lisa's eyes, tiny numbers and letters could be seen.
Experts say the subtle letters and numbers represent something out of The Da Vinci Code in real life: in his right eye, the letters LV can be seen, which could well represent his name, Leonardo Da Vinci, while There are also symbols in the left eye, but they are not so clearly visible. Of course, it is very difficult to identify them exactly, but they appear to be the Latin letters CE, or E may actually be the letter B. On the arch of the bridge, visible in the background, you can see the number 72, or the Latin letter L and the number 2. In addition, , the number 149, with the fourth number erased, is on the back of the painting, suggesting that da Vinci painted it while he was in Milan in the 1490s.
It should be taken into account that this painting is almost 500 years old, so it is no longer as crisp and clear as when it was created.
2. Last Supper: Math and astrology puzzle, plus secret notes 
The Last Supper has also been the subject of many hypotheses, mainly regarding the supposed hidden messages or hints that are present in the painting.
Information technologist Slavisa Pesci created an interesting visual effect by superimposing a translucent, mirror image of the painting on top of the original. As a result, two figures appear at either end of the table who appear to be Templars, while a person, perhaps a woman with a baby, stands to the left of Jesus.
Italian musician Giovanni Maria Pala also pointed out that the positions of the hands and loaves of bread can be interpreted as notes on a staff, and when read from right to left, as was typical of Leonardo's writing method, they constitute a musical composition .
Vatican researcher Sabrina Sforza Galitzia says she has deciphered the mathematical and astrological puzzle in Leonardo's painting The Last Supper. She said he foresaw the end of the world in a "global flood" that would begin on March 21, 4006, and end on November 1 of that year. She believed that this flood would mark "a new start for humanity."
3. Creation of Adam: Floating Brain Deity 
Michelangelo's painting entitled "The Creation of Adam" is not only the known part The Sistine Chapel, but also one of the few legendary images of humanity.
Michelangelo is considered one of the greatest painters and sculptors of the era Italian Renaissance. However, not everyone knows the fact that he was very interested in anatomy and at the age of 17 he began to dissect corpses, which he took from the church cemetery.
A pair of American experts in neuroanatomy believe that Michelangelo actually left some anatomical illustrations in one of his most famous works- Sistine Chapel.
While some may consider this a coincidence, experts suggest it is more difficult to explain that the anatomical context was not in Michelangelo's painting. Even complex components of the brain can be found in the painting, such as the cerebellum, optic nerves and pituitary gland. As for the striking green ribbon running along the pons/spine/man who supports God, it perfectly matches the location of the vertebral artery.
4. Sistine Chapel: another image of the human brain, but from below 
As with the masterpiece The Creation of Adam, experts believe there is another figure of God with a secret code on the panels of the Sistine Chapel.
They noticed that the throat and chest of the God in the painting were depicted with anatomical inconsistencies not found in any other figure in the fresco. Additionally, while the light falls on the other figures diagonally from the lower left corner, the God's neck is illuminated by direct light. They concluded that it looked awkward and must be the deliberate work of genius.
By superimposing a strange image of God's neck onto a photograph of a human brain below, they showed how exactly the two images matched. They added that the strange bolt of cloth that extends to the center of God's robe could be a representation of the human spinal cord.
The lumpy neck in God's image (A) corresponds to a photograph of a human brain as seen from below (B), and (C) shows various parts of the brain apparently hidden in the painting.
Scientists say Michelangelo also depicted other anatomical features elsewhere in the ceiling, notably a kidney, which was a familiar sight to Michelangelo and was of particular interest to him because he suffered from kidney stones.
5. Madonna with Saint Giovannino: UFO sightings
In addition to drawing our attention to the rock-hard muscles of the Baby Jesus, Domenico Ghirlandaio's Madonna with Saint Giovannino also features an interesting little drop floating in the sky above Mary's left shoulder.
Above Mary's left shoulder is a disc-shaped object that appears to sparkle. The artist depicted this object in great detail so that it was clearly visible in his work of art. The right side of the painting shows a man holding his right hand over his eyes, indicating that the object was very bright, and in the upper left corner there is an object that looks like the sun.
"Madonna with Saint Giovannino" by Domenico Ghirlandaio is just one of many medieval paintings that depict strange, frightening unidentified flying objects.
6. Zechariah (Prophet) (Prophet Zechariah): Insulting a religious authority figure
The disagreements between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo have been well documented. Historians note that Michelangelo painted a portrait of the pope as the prophet Zechariah, and that one of the angels located behind him shows him an extremely obscene gesture.
Charming Small child shows a fig, and this is not a sweet fruit, it is a real finger fig and its meaning is not nearly as sweet as the fruit of the same name. By inserting his thumb between his index and middle fingers, he makes a gesture that in the old world was practically the equivalent of showing the middle finger today.
7. David and Goliath: mystical signs of Kabbalah 
Scanning the arrangement of figures on the huge ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, an area of 1300 square meters, the authors found shapes that correspond to Hebrew letters.
For example, the figures of David and Goliath form the shape of the letter "gimel", which symbolizes "strength" in the mystical tradition of Kabbalah.
The authors believe that Michelangelo gained knowledge of Judaism while he was at the court of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, and the entire Sistine Chapel, which is supposedly built in the same proportions as the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, is a “lost mystical a message of universal love” that had to be deciphered.
8. “Flemish Proverbs” (Netherlandish Proverbs): the plot of the picture contains 112 Dutch idioms 
"Flemish Proverbs" is an oil painting on oak panel dated 1559. Its author is Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who depicted a land inhabited by literal images of Dutch proverbs of those days.
The painting contains approximately 112 recognizable idioms. Some of them are still used today, for example, such as: “swim against the current”, “banging your head against the wall”, “armed to the teeth” and “big fish eat little fish”.
Other proverbs reflect human stupidity. Some of the figures appear to represent more than one figurative expression, such as the man shearing a sheep to the left of center at the bottom of the painting. He sits next to a man who is slaughtering a pig, which represents the expression "someone shears sheep, and someone slaughters pigs." This expression means that one person has an advantage over another, but it can also represent the admonition to "cut 'em, but don't skin 'em," that is, make the most of your savings, but don't blow them completely.
9. Supper at Emmaus: Recognizing the Law of Silence for Christians
"Supper at Emmaus" is a painting painted by the artist Caravaggio in Italian Baroque style.
The painting depicts the moment when the resurrected, but unrecognized Jesus, shows himself to two of his disciples in the city of Emmaus, and then disappears from sight.
The painting is unusual because of the life-size figures and the dark, empty background. There is a basket of food on the table, which is balanced precariously on the edge of the table. There is also a striking shadow in the painting, resembling a fish in outline, which may indicate the recognition of the law of silence for Christians.
10. Portrait young Mozart(Young Mozart's Portrait): signs of the Masons
Of course, artwork could not help but touch upon Freemasonry. Portraits of people who hide their hand can indicate dedication to a cause or level in the hierarchy. An example of such portraits is this anonymous portrait of Mozart (possibly painted by the artist Antonio Lorenzoni).