The most incredible mistakes in famous works of art. The most incredible mistakes in famous works of art (23 photos) Stands or falls

No one on Earth is immune from cretinism, which affects not only mere mortals, but also generally recognized geniuses. Therefore, let's indulge our pride and see what mistakes the masters of fine art made in their works.

7. Large Romanesque crucifix of San Damino

(San Damiano)

It was made by the hand of an unknown craftsman 4 centuries before the events unfolding in the game Assassin’s Creed 2 (XI century). He is best known for the fact that St. Francis of Assisi prayed before him shortly before receiving God's gift of vision to reform the Roman Catholic Church.

Let's take a closer look at this product of ancient masters.

The San Damino Crucifixion set the standard for all religious Christian icons, which remained unchanged for many hundreds of years. This continued until his reproduction adorned one of the walls of the church in Warr Acres, Oklahoma, where most believers, with a shudder in their souls and hearts, saw the divine abs in the form of... better look at the original and at the artist’s work for yourself incompetent, or just a mischievous joker who decided to bring a little overt eroticism to the image of the idol of millions of people. Or maybe the poor guy just thought that real abs have a phallic shape!? Ultimately, the would-be artist was called to account and forced to remake his creation.

6. Norman Rockwell gave a man a third leg

People who understand absolutely nothing about art most often notice in a Norman Rockwell painting something that is hidden from the eyes of experts and art lovers.

Norman Rockwell was a real printing press, producing a little over 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, most of which show the lives of average Americans doing completely ordinary and unremarkable things.

However, despite its apparent simplicity, his works have found and continue to find their admirers, who claim that Rockwell is the greatest artist of the 19th century.

His paintings, written for spreads in The Saturday Evening Post, are the clearest example of the work of this man, who glorified the culture of the entire American society. Every two weeks he drew new covers for this newspaper, which were imbued with the American spirit and exposed the American dream to the whole world in all its glory.

This artist not only embellished reality, but extolled the United States to heights unattainable for other countries, thereby pushing the idea of ​​the “American Dream” to the masses.

His classic, People Reading Stock Exchange, depicting four people poring over stock quotes, graced the front page of the newspaper. However, the overtired master made one mistake, having noticed which, a European resident could interpret the artist’s idea in only one way: America is inhabited by mutants!

What's wrong with this?

The young man in the red shirt appears to be leaning on his third leg! As you can see, two of his legs are brought together and straightened, while the third, hidden by the apron, is bent at the knee, allowing him to rest his hand on it.

Rockwell realized that he had drawn something wrong only several months later and was frankly shocked by his inattention. Describing the biography of this outstanding man, a writer named Richard Halpern wrote that Mr. Norman Rockwell was reluctant to talk about the painting “Men Reading Stock Exchange Reports” and called the third leg nothing more than an unidentified phallic object.

It seems that all the outstanding artists of the past were obsessed with the male reproductive organs!? Is the whole article really going to be devoted to finding phallic images in old paintings?

5. Michelangelo’s favorite women... or is it men?

However, any modern person who decides to take a closer look at Michelangelo’s work will conclude that the artist was either not indifferent to pumped-up female bodybuilders, who did not yet exist in nature in the 16th century, or had a hidden passion for athletically built transvestites.

Michelangelo is a universally recognized genius in the history of all mankind, but the question inevitably arises: what was he thinking when he painted a woman who looks exactly like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday?

In principle, everything would not be so bad if one fine day the artist did not get the idea to start painting these busty Hercules naked.

Solution!

Most historians are convinced that Michelangelo was a homosexual. To divert any suspicion from his orientation, he diluted the images of naked men in his works with female bodies, for which weightlifters who posed for the artist served as models.

That is why most of the fairer sex who came from his pen do not look weak at all. This fact is also supported by the shape of women’s breasts, which look clumsy and unnatural.

Just look at these beautiful ‘female’ breasts, which could be called silicone if plastic surgeons practiced in the 16th century:

Even more terrible, as if glued, is the breast of the ‘woman’ in the fresco “The Last Judgment”, which adorns the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel:

4. Moses didn't have horns... or did he?

No, this horned fiend of hell is not the devil, but Moses, as he was depicted in the Ten Commandments - the instructions of the 10 basic laws that believers believe were given to the Jewish prophet by the Lord God himself.

There are a huge number of paintings, sculptures and other works of art representing the biblical hero in satanic guise.

Why the hell do I make devil horns on Moses' head?

If God really exists, then he definitely has nothing to do with the Bible that has survived to this day. This is also supported by the fact that throughout its history the Holy Scriptures have been rewritten countless times, acquiring new doctrines and rules that churchmen imposed on believers throughout the existence of Christianity.

Another obstacle to the 'Word of God' was tongues; So one sentence in biblical Hebrew can have a completely different meaning, for example, in Russian. The reason for this confusion was the presence in the original source of words that simply do not have synonyms in other cultures. The mentality of speakers of different languages, who can perceive the same phrase in completely different ways, also added a fly in the ointment to the understanding of the Holy Scriptures.

Therefore, there is a strong possibility that Moses acquired his demonic horns thanks to the work of the notorious Saint Jerome, who made a rather clumsy translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin. By the way, this translation was later called the Vulgate (latin for public translation) and became extremely popular.

The innocent mistake of the author, who decided that believers would rather have horns like those of the fucking devil than the snotty horn-shaped rays illuminating the face of the prophet, resulted in a real creative tsunami that has been raging in the minds of art people for almost 1000 years.

The most famous product of this cataclysm was the marble statue of “Moses” by our old friend Michelangelo, which occupies the central part in the sculpted tomb of Pope Julius II in the Roman Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli:

While working on the sculpture, Michelangelo learned about an error in the translation, but in order not to enter into conflict with the clergy, he still left the horns.

Thus, our good old Mike became the first of a galaxy of talented artists who, through his creativity, strengthened in the hearts of believers the misconception about the true appearance of the Jewish prophet.

3. William Penn waves hello to Philadelphians with his... penis

If anyone doesn’t know, William Penn is one of the founding fathers of the American state, who founded a refuge colony for free-thinking Europeans, which he named Pennsylvania in his honor.

The giant bronze colossus of the founder of Pennsylvania was erected in 1894 at the very top of the Philadelphia City Hall clock tower.

The height of the bronze idol, laughing at the top of its lungs at the long-suffering residents of the city, is almost 11.28 meters, which puts this monumental creation of human hands in first place in the list of the tallest statues installed on top of buildings.

What do the founding father and the male reproductive organ have in common?

When traveling around the USA, be sure to look into the beautiful town called Philadelphia and ask this immodest, but so tormenting question to one of the local residents... it’s better, of course, to choose a guy or a group of guys who are healthier - they certainly should know.

Your interlocutor, flushed with shame and embarrassment, will certainly send you to hell, but not before pointing his middle finger up in the direction of the majestic statue of William Penn, waving his... You won't believe it, giant bronze penis.

However, coming closer to the statue, you will understand that your perverted imagination has played a cruel joke on you - no, the founding father is really waving at you, but not with his manhood, but with his right hand.

The sculptor of this monument was Alexander Milne Calder, who most likely thought that the city residents would look up at his creation, standing under the clock tower.

However, the best view of this statue opens up to pedestrians walking along 1 Penn Square, who shyly drop their gaze at the sight of the founding father's protruding belongings.

See what William Penn's hand looks like from JFK Plaza:

We can only guess whether the hand-penis was the author’s idea or whether the degradation of modern society, which catches a hint of genital organs in all objects with phallic shapes, is to blame.

2. Playful little hands or secret passions of Rembrandt

This is, of course, complete crap that smacks of homophobia, but some historians are convinced that Rembrandt was a homosexual and cite as proof of this the painting “The Night Watch” (De Nachtwacht), painted by him in 1642, in which, supposedly, the brilliant artist depicted the shadow of the hands of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, giving orders to the musketeers, reaching towards the groin area of ​​Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch.

Despite all its absurdity, this ridiculous theory caused a lot of noise and was further developed.

Fans of historical secrets and conspiracies agreed that Rembrandt, who did not like the warrior, wanted to ridicule the customers of the painting, which, no matter how much he wanted, he could not refuse to paint.

Adding fuel to the fire is the girl standing in the background, on whose belt hangs a dead rooster, gently hinting at the unconventional orientation of the musketeers. In addition, ridiculing the narrow-minded mind of Captain Cock, Rembrandt depicted him with a smart look, holding another right hand in a gloved right hand glove. An x-ray of the painting also showed that the groin area of ​​Reutenburg underwent the greatest number of changes during the painting of the canvas.

1. Crazy Horse Memorial by Korczak Ziulkowski

The sculpture by Korczak Ziolkowski depicts a famous episode in American Indian history when a pale man asked an Oglala Lakota warrior named Crazy Horse, “Where is your land now?” Crazy Horse responded. pointed into the distance and answered the conqueror: “My lands are where my grave is.”

In different cultures, hand gestures have different meanings, for example, what in Russia means a friendly greeting, among African tribes can be regarded as a challenge to a mortal fight.

Korczak Ziulkowski, in this case, depicted Crazy Horse with an outstretched arm and an extended index finger, which among the Indians is a rude gesture full of aggression, hatred and contempt, the softest analogue of which is the middle finger of the hand extended upward, accompanied by the phrase, beloved all over the world, “ FUCK YOU."

Thus, this gesture gives a completely different meaning to Crazy Horse's phrase, which all Native Americans quote as follows: “My land is where your graves are.”

“The essence of a historical picture is guessing. If only the spirit of the times is respected, you can make any mistakes in the details,” Vasily Ivanovich Surikov argued to critics of his masterpiece “Boyarina Morozova,” who blamed the painter for being slapdash: there is not enough room for the coachman, the noblewoman’s hand is too long and unnaturally twisted... How many other such mistakes have great artists made? “Secrets of the 20th Century” offers a closer look at famous paintings and a new look at the work of great artists.

I don't recognize you in makeup!

Let's start the story with one of the greatest masters of the brush - Leonardo da Vinci.

He made an involuntary mistake in the process of creating the famous “Last Supper”: if you look at it more closely, you will notice that Christ and Judas look alike. The fact is that da Vinci quickly found a model for the role of Jesus - he became a church choir singer, but the search for Judas dragged on for three years. In the end, Leonardo came across a suitable drunkard, wallowing in the mud of an Italian street. The artist took the tramp to the nearest tavern and began to sketch the appearance of Judas. When the drawing was completed, it turned out that in front of da Vinci... was the same singer who posed for him several years ago.

Another mistake (if you can call it that) was made by da Vinci in the painting “The Annunciation”, where the Archangel Gabriel received wings so small from the artist that he would hardly have been able to descend on them to the sinful earth without injury.

Leonardo justified himself by saying that his wings were anatomically correct, because they were copied from birds, but an unknown author later added solidity and width to the wings of the archangel. True, in the end the composition in the picture was disrupted, and the wings began to look bulky and somewhat grotesque.

Left! Left!

The semi-anecdotal story with the monument to Lenin, where the leader of the world proletariat poses with two caps - one on his head, the other in his hand - turns out to have a historical prototype.

Harmens van Rijn Rembrandt in his painting “The Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg” (better known as “The Night Watch”) depicted the watch commander Cock with two right gloves: one on his hand, and the other in the same hand .

And the famous Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, when creating the canvas “The Union of Earth and Water,” for some reason endowed Venus with two right hands - the depicted left one, lying on Neptune’s hand, is not at all similar to the left one.

Another artist of the Baroque era, the Italian Caravaggio, in the painting “Supper at Emmaus” also imagined and depicted a basket filled with fruit and denying the laws of physics - standing on the edge of the table, it does not turn over. Perhaps because Jesus himself is sitting at the table?

If we continue the topic of shapeshifters, then we cannot help but mention the mistake in Ilya Repin’s film “Barge Haulers on the Volga”: there the artel is dragging a barge on which the flag is for some reason turned upside down.

The face of Vincent van Gogh in his famous “Self-Portrait with a Cut Off Ear” also turned out to be upside down. There the eccentric artist is depicted with a bandaged ear, but in reality he injured his left ear - whereas in the picture his right one was injured!

Native birches

As for inaccuracies in the paintings of domestic artists, it seems that here we are ahead of the rest.

So, when the same Ilya Repin, in the process of painting the painting “The Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan,” discovered that the surroundings and clothing of the characters did not quite correspond to reality, he abandoned the first draft and began to paint the painting again.

However, today it will be very difficult for a non-specialist to determine which of the options we can see on the Internet - correct or incorrect.

Several mistakes were made in Viktor Vasnetsov’s painting “Bogatyrs”. If we rely on historical data and take the age of Ilya Muromets as a standard, it turns out that at that time Dobrynya Nikitich should already be a grey-bearded, frail old man, and Alyosha Popovich should be a little boy, whereas on the canvas they are depicted almost the same age. And Alyosha, who is right-handed (which is confirmed by the sword hanging on the left), for some reason hung his quiver to the left, making it very difficult for himself to pull arrows out of it in battle.

Emperor Nicholas I turned out to be a very strict critic of painting, for whom the Bavarian battle painter Peter von Hess undertook to paint 12 large paintings depicting the main battles of the Patriotic War of 1812. So, having examined the first painting “Vyazma”, the sovereign ordered “to write... to Kiel (the court painter) that... the emperor was extremely pleased with Hesse’s painting... but... the officers’ coats are buttoned on the left side in the picture, while in our country all officers are buttoned on the right side, and the number of buttons on each side should be only 6. There should be no braid on a non-commissioned officer’s overcoat. The cadet's sword belts do not use slings for wearing. Do not make white edging from under ties.” However, von Hess did not have to finish the work - the mistakes listed by the sovereign were corrected by professors and students of the battle class of the Academy of Arts.

The painter also got it from the next emperor, Alexander II, who, having examined the next canvas, ordered “that in the picture depicting the battle of Klyastitsy, among the soldiers of the Life Guards Pavlovsky Regiment, which is in the foreground, Professor Villevalde rewrote the uniforms that existed in that time." Fortunately for von Hess, neither Nicholas I nor Alexander II saw in the “Battle of Vyazma” in the hands of Russian soldiers rifles from the future, which were not yet in service at that time, and a monogram instead of an eight-pointed star from the Life Cuirassier Imperial Majesties regiments in “ Battle of Borodino."

“We examined with the greatest curiosity... “The passage of French troops across the Berezina in 1812,” wrote the famous Russian writer F.V. Bulgarin in the newspaper “Northern Bee”. – In our opinion, this picture contains half the beauty and half the flaws. All great artists and experts laugh at us, but we will frankly say that the first thing that caught our eye was a non-Russian matting on a Russian cart. Whatever you say, this trifle makes an impression. The grass matting is light fawn, the kind in which coffee is brought to us from America, and is so large that it covers the entire cart. This doesn't smell like Russia! Why, we ask, where did the brand new open suitcase come from on the same cart? Let's ask how one of the travel strollers survived, with umbrellas and canes in leather cases tied to the back of the stroller? Where and why is this Kalmyk galloping in a close crowd of infantrymen? After all, he will pass them on...” The conclusion from everything written, however, is unexpected by Bulgarin: “The color, as in all of Mr. Hesse’s paintings, is pale, but the picture generally belongs to wonderful works of art.”

And you’re right, Thaddeus Venediktovich is right!..

There are works of art that seem to hit the viewer over the head, stunning and amazing. Others draw you into thought and a search for layers of meaning and secret symbolism. Some paintings are shrouded in secrets and mystical mysteries, while others surprise with exorbitant prices.

We carefully reviewed all the major achievements in world painting and selected two dozen of the strangest paintings from them. Salvador Dali, whose works completely fall within the format of this material and are the first to come to mind, were not included in this collection on purpose.

It is clear that “strangeness” is a rather subjective concept and everyone has their own amazing paintings that stand out from other works of art. We will be glad if you share them in the comments and tell us a little about them.

"Scream"

Edvard Munch. 1893, cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel.
National Gallery, Oslo.

The Scream is considered a landmark expressionist event and one of the most famous paintings in the world.

There are two interpretations of what is depicted: it is the hero himself who is gripped by horror and silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears; or the hero closes his ears from the cry of the world and nature sounding around him. Munch wrote four versions of “The Scream,” and there is a version that this painting is the fruit of manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered. After a course of treatment at the clinic, Munch did not return to work on the canvas.

“I was walking along the path with two friends. The sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and city. My friends moved on, and I stood, trembling with excitement, feeling an endless scream piercing nature,” Edvard Munch said about the history of the creation of the painting.

“Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?"

Paul Gauguin. 1897-1898, oil on canvas.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

According to Gauguin himself, the painting should be read from right to left - three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title.

Three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final group, according to the artist’s plan, “the old woman, approaching death, seems reconciled and given over to her thoughts,” at her feet “a strange white bird ... represents the uselessness of words.”

The deeply philosophical painting of the post-impressionist Paul Gauguin was painted by him in Tahiti, where he fled from Paris. Upon completion of the work, he even wanted to commit suicide: “I believe that this painting is superior to all my previous ones and that I will never create something better or even similar.” He lived another five years, and so it happened.

"Guernica"

Pablo Picasso. 1937, oil on canvas.
Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid.

Guernica presents scenes of death, violence, brutality, suffering and helplessness, without specifying their immediate causes, but they are obvious. It is said that in 1940, Pablo Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in Paris. The conversation immediately turned to the painting. “Did you do this?” - “No, you did it.”

The huge fresco painting “Guernica,” painted by Picasso in 1937, tells the story of a raid by a Luftwaffe volunteer unit on the city of Guernica, as a result of which the city of six thousand was completely destroyed. The painting was painted literally in a month - the first days of work on the painting, Picasso worked for 10-12 hours, and already in the first sketches one could see the main idea. This is one of the best illustrations of the nightmare of fascism, as well as human cruelty and grief.

"Portrait of the Arnolfini couple"

Jan van Eyck. 1434, wood, oil.
London National Gallery, London.

The famous painting is completely filled with symbols, allegories and various references - right down to the signature “Jan van Eyck was here”, which turned the painting not just into a work of art, but into a historical document confirming the reality of the event at which the artist was present.

The portrait, supposedly of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, is one of the most complex works of the Western school of Northern Renaissance painting.

In Russia, over the past few years, the painting has gained great popularity due to Arnolfini’s portrait resemblance to Vladimir Putin.

"Demon Seated"

Mikhail Vrubel. 1890, oil on canvas.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

"The hands resist him"

Bill Stoneham. 1972.

This work, of course, cannot be ranked among the masterpieces of world painting, but the fact that it is strange is a fact.

There are legends surrounding the painting with a boy, a doll and his hands pressed against the glass. From “people are dying because of this picture” to “the children in it are alive.” The picture looks really creepy, which gives rise to a lot of fears and speculation among people with weak psyches.

The artist insisted that the painting depicted himself at the age of five, that the door represented the dividing line between the real world and the world of dreams, and the doll was a guide who could guide the boy through this world. The hands represent alternative lives or possibilities.

The painting gained notoriety in February 2000 when it was put up for sale on eBay with a backstory saying that the painting was “haunted.” “Hands Resist Him” was bought for $1,025 by Kim Smith, who was then simply inundated with letters with creepy stories and demands to burn the painting.

Sometimes we see in paintings something that cannot be in reality, no matter how plausible the image may seem. This happens when artists make mistakes associated with violating the laws of geometry. In some cases, the inconsistencies are striking, in others they are completely invisible, but give us a feeling of something unusual and even strange. Such inaccuracies can be either accidental or intentional - in order to attract attention or capture the imagination of the viewer.

Leonardo da Vinci. Adoration of the Magi. Sketch. 1481

Maurits Escher. Gazebo. Lithography. 1958

Leonardo da Vinci. Annunciation. Around 1472-1475.

Jos de May. Still life in the window. 1997

Van Dyck. Portrait of a noble Genoese lady and her son. 1626

Giovanni Bellini. Dinner at Emmaus. 1490s.

Giorgio de Chirico. Prophet. 1915

Rene Magritte. Portrait of Edward James. 1937

Salvador Dali. Swans reflected in elephants. 1937

Dirk Bouts. Christ in Simon's house. 1440

The mystery of Leonardo

Here is a sketch of the painting “The Adoration of the Magi” by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). As experts in the field of painting recognize, the famous Italian Renaissance artist had an excellent command of the techniques of constructing linear perspective. In fact, the background sketch is verified with mathematical precision - the gaze slides along straight lines rushing towards the central vanishing point and is fixed on it. But take a closer look at the columns at the left edge of the picture. Do you notice anything strange? The columns are depicted in violation of the very perspective that so delights in Leonardo’s drawing. The column that rests on the step is depicted in two plans at once: the front (at the base) and the rear (at the level of the capital). And the second column is clearly not in place.

The true reason for the “mistake” made by the artist will remain a mystery to us. At that time, already an established master, Leonardo is unlikely to have made a miscalculation out of ignorance, especially since there is a “red herring” - the viewer’s gaze is willy-nilly concentrated in the center of the picture.

Another thing is the work of a novice artist, yesterday's student. Take a look at The Annunciation, the earliest known painting by Leonardo da Vinci. There were several mistakes made on it. The most obvious is that the hand of the Virgin Mary cannot reach the book lying on the lectern: it stands closer to the viewer than to the Virgin herself. As a result, her right arm is longer than her left, and the proportions of her figure are disturbed.

Unreal objects

An impossible figure, or geometrically contradictory image, similar to the columns in Leonardo's sketch, is a structure in the famous lithograph "Belvedere" by the Dutch graphic artist Maurits Escher (1898-1972). From this painting, painted almost 500 years after the “Adoration of the Magi,” one can judge the direction of imp art (from the English impossible - impossible and art - art) in the so-called optical art - op art, which its author represents. Variations on the same theme are found in the works of other contemporary artists, who create paradoxical objects that seem real, but cannot exist in reality. When depicting various objects, the authors deliberately violate the laws of geometry and thereby achieve unexpected visual effects - creating amazing optical illusions. Here is just one example - “Still Life in a Window” by the Belgian artist and designer Jos de May (1928-2007). In the painting, the upper and lower halves of the “window frame”, when viewed separately, look normal, but when joined together they form an impossible object. The fact is that they are shown from different points, in different perspectives, and this leads to the incorrect location of one part relative to the other.

Violating proportionality

And here is “Portrait of a Noble Genoese Lady and Her Son” by the famous Flemish portrait painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). The characters in the film make a completely different impression. Due to the severe disproportion, the woman looks unreal. She has a huge height for a person, a disproportionately small head and, judging by the position of her arms and legs, problems with her physique. It seems that the portrait of the lady is assembled in parts, and they do not fit well together. Nothing like this is observed in the boy’s figure; it is perceived completely naturally.

Is it standing or falling?

The most common mistakes in paintings are violations of perspective and proportions. But the eye notices other inaccuracies. For example, in the painting “Supper at Emmaus,” supposedly painted by the Italian Giovanni Bellini (circa 1430-1516), the meal scene looks very realistic. The poses, faces and clothes of people, interior details, food and dishes are carefully drawn. But the table legs are clearly not in place. Through their ends, both the upper ones - from the side of the tabletop, and the lower ones - resting on the floor, you can mentally draw straight lines that will be parallel to one another. This means that all legs are located in the same plane. Such a table is extremely unstable; it will fall the first time you try to put it on the floor. It would be necessary to rotate pairs of legs (one is enough, or better yet both at once - for reasons of symmetry of the structure) in space, say, 90o, so that they are located in parallel planes.

It is curious that this error is also found in the paintings of other painters, for example in the painting “The Prophet” by Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), one of the predecessors of the surrealists. Although it all depends on our agreement. If we think that the easel is falling, then the artist was not mistaken, and if we decide that the easel is standing firmly on the floor, then this is as much an invention of the author as the entire image.

Prohibited image

An example of a different kind of “error”, testifying to the original author’s intention, is the famous mystery painting “Portrait of Edward James” by the Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte (1898-1967). The canvas also has another name - “Reproduction Prohibited”. The hero of the picture - a well-known English collector and philanthropist in his time, Magritte's friend and patron - looks at himself in the mirror, but, contrary to the law of reflection (symmetry relative to a plane), he sees the back of his head instead of his face. From a geometric point of view, this is impossible, which means that such “reproduction” is truly prohibited. True, this applies only to the hero of the portrait: both the mantelpiece and the book lying on it are reflected correctly in the mirror. The mistake was made by Magritte, of course, intentionally. It is in his style to combine things in his works that are not compatible in reality, to depict characters from the back, to cover or replace their faces with various objects.

Two in one

The inverted painting by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) “Swans Reflected in Elephants” is also interesting to study, in which we are also faced with violations of the laws of symmetry. On the one hand, the swans on the water are an independent part of the picture, and on the other hand, they seem to have grown together with the trees. The most amazing thing is that their reflection in the water is not swans, but the figures of elephants standing on the ground. Let’s turn the picture “upside down” and see swans, which, reflected “in the opposite direction,” again turn into elephants. From the point of view of geometry, such a mutually inverse transformation of objects is explained by the manifestation of the law of mirror symmetry. But take a closer look at the group of swans. Three birds are reflected correctly in the water, but the fourth, as if falling on its side, is not. Is it because, according to the author’s plan, this swan is reflected in another mirror plane and it is located at an angle to the first? In reality, this, of course, would be impossible, but in the imagination of a surrealist artist it is quite possible.

Finally, one more mystery picture. Here is the painting “Christ in the House of Simon” by the Dutch painter Dirk Bouts (circa 1410-1475). It is written on a biblical story - the anointing of Christ by a woman when he visited the house of Simon. There are several visible errors and inconsistencies on the canvas. Try to find irregularities in the depiction of figures and objects that make the picture more like a collage. It also has a detail that is superfluous from a geometry point of view. Which exactly?

No one on Earth is immune from cretinism, which affects not only mere mortals, but also generally recognized geniuses. Therefore, let's indulge our pride and see what mistakes the masters of fine art made in their works.
7. What, don’t you see anything?

Crucifixion of San Damino, original
The large Romanesque crucifix of San Damiano was made by the hand of an unknown craftsman 4 centuries before the events unfolding in the game Assassin’s Creed 2 (11th century). He is best known for the fact that St. Francis of Assisi prayed before him shortly before receiving God's gift of vision to reform the Roman Catholic Church.
Let's take a closer look at this product of ancient masters.

Crucifixion of San Damino by an unknown artist
The San Damino Crucifixion set the standard for all religious Christian icons, which remained unchanged for many hundreds of years. This continued until his reproduction adorned one of the walls of the church in Warr Acres, Oklahoma, where most believers, with a shudder in their souls and hearts, saw the divine abs in the form of... better look at the original and at the artist’s work for yourself incompetent, or just a mischievous joker who decided to bring a little overt eroticism to the image of the idol of millions of people. Or maybe the poor guy just thought that real abs have a phallic shape!?
Ultimately, the would-be artist was called to account and forced to remake his creation.

6. Norman Rockwell gave a man a third leg

People who understand absolutely nothing about art most often notice in a Norman Rockwell painting something that is hidden from the eyes of experts and art lovers.
Norman Rockwell was a real printing press, producing a little over 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, most of which show the lives of average Americans doing completely ordinary and unremarkable things.
However, despite its apparent simplicity, his works have found and continue to find their admirers, who claim that Rockwell is the greatest artist of the 19th century.
His paintings, written for spreads in The Saturday Evening Post, are the clearest example of the work of this man, who glorified the culture of the entire American society. Every two weeks he drew new covers for this newspaper, which were imbued with the American spirit and exposed the American dream to the whole world in all its glory.
This artist not only embellished reality, but extolled the United States to heights unattainable for other countries, thereby pushing the idea of ​​the “American Dream” to the masses.
His classic, People Reading Stock Exchange, depicting four people poring over stock quotes, graced the front page of the newspaper. However, the overtired master made one mistake, having noticed which, a European resident could interpret the artist’s idea in only one way: America is inhabited by mutants!

What's wrong with this?

The young man in the red shirt appears to be leaning on his third leg! As you can see, two of his legs are brought together and straightened, while the third, hidden by the apron, is bent at the knee, allowing him to rest his hand on it.
Rockwell realized that he had drawn something wrong only several months later and was frankly shocked by his inattention. Describing the biography of this outstanding man, a writer named Richard Halpern wrote that Mr. Norman Rockwell was reluctant to talk about the painting “Men Reading Stock Exchange Reports” and called the third leg nothing more than an unidentified phallic object.
It seems that all the outstanding artists of the past were obsessed with the male reproductive organs!? Is the whole article really going to be devoted to finding phallic images in old paintings?

5. Michelangelo’s favorite women... or is it men?

Yes, according to the author’s idea, this is a real woman!
However, any modern person who decides to take a closer look at Michelangelo’s work will conclude that the artist was either not indifferent to pumped-up female bodybuilders, who did not yet exist in nature in the 16th century, or had a hidden passion for athletically built transvestites.
Michelangelo is a universally recognized genius in the history of all mankind, but the question inevitably arises: what was he thinking when he painted a woman who looks exactly like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday?

In principle, everything would not be so bad if one fine day the artist did not get the idea to start painting these busty Hercules naked.

Solution!
Most historians are convinced that Michelangelo was a homosexual. To divert any suspicion from his orientation, he diluted the images of naked men in his works with female bodies, for which weightlifters who posed for the artist served as models.

That is why most of the fairer sex who came from his pen do not look weak at all. This fact is also supported by the shape of women’s breasts, which look clumsy and unnatural.

Just look at these beautiful ‘female’ breasts, which could be called silicone if plastic surgeons practiced in the 16th century:

Even more terrible, as if glued, is the breast of the ‘woman’ in the fresco “The Last Judgment”, which adorns the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel:

There you can also see two pumped-up macho men - Adam and Eve... We see Adam... even two, but where is the first woman? Although the one on the left has a very sweet, almost feminine face, perhaps this is Eve, whom Michelangelo accidentally forgot to draw a breast, as well as a penis, which he deprived Adam of.

Adam and Eve!?

4. Moses didn't have horns... or did he?

No, this horned fiend of hell is not the devil, but Moses, as he was depicted in the Ten Commandments - the instructions of the 10 basic laws that believers believe were given to the Jewish prophet by the Lord God himself.

There are a huge number of paintings, sculptures and other works of art representing the biblical hero in satanic guise.

Why the hell do I make devil horns on Moses' head?

If God really exists, then he definitely has nothing to do with the Bible that has survived to this day. This is also supported by the fact that throughout its history the Holy Scriptures have been rewritten countless times, acquiring new doctrines and rules that churchmen imposed on believers throughout the existence of Christianity.
Another obstacle to the 'Word of God' was tongues; So one sentence in biblical Hebrew can have a completely different meaning, for example, in Russian. The reason for this confusion was the presence in the original source of words that simply do not have synonyms in other cultures. The mentality of speakers of different languages, who can perceive the same phrase in completely different ways, also added a fly in the ointment to the understanding of the Holy Scriptures.
Therefore, there is a strong possibility that Moses acquired his demonic horns thanks to the work of the notorious Saint Jerome, who made a rather clumsy translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin. By the way, this translation was later called the Vulgate (latin for public translation) and became extremely popular.
The innocent mistake of the author, who decided that believers would rather have horns like those of the fucking devil than the snotty horn-shaped rays illuminating the face of the prophet, resulted in a real creative tsunami that has been raging in the minds of art people for almost 1000 years.
The most famous product of this cataclysm was the marble statue of “Moses” by our old friend Michelangelo, which occupies the central part in the sculpted tomb of Pope Julius II in the Roman Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli:

While working on the sculpture, Michelangelo learned about an error in the translation, but in order not to enter into conflict with the clergy, he still left the horns.
Thus, our good old Mike became the first of a galaxy of talented artists who, through his creativity, strengthened in the hearts of believers the misconception about the true appearance of the Jewish prophet.

3. William Penn waves hello to Philadelphians with his... penis

If anyone doesn’t know, William Penn is one of the founding fathers of the American state, who founded a “sanctuary” colony for free-thinking Europeans, which he named Pennsylvania in his honor.

The giant bronze colossus of the founder of Pennsylvania was erected in 1894 at the very top of the Philadelphia City Hall clock tower.

The height of the bronze idol, laughing at the top of its lungs at the long-suffering residents of the city, is almost 11.28 meters, which puts this monumental creation of human hands in first place in the list of the tallest statues installed on top of buildings.
What do the founding father and the male reproductive organ have in common?
When traveling around the USA, be sure to look into a beautiful town called Philadelphia and ask this immodest, but so tormenting question to one of the local residents... it’s better, of course, to choose a guy or a group of guys who are healthier - they certainly should know.
Your interlocutor, flushed with shame and embarrassment, will certainly send you to hell, but not before pointing his middle finger up in the direction of the majestic statue of William Penn, waving his... You won't believe it, giant bronze penis.

However, coming closer to the statue, you will understand that your perverted imagination has played a cruel joke on you - no, the founding father is really waving at you, but not with his manhood, but with his right hand.

The sculptor of this monument was Alexander Milne Calder, who most likely thought that the city residents would look up at his creation, standing under the clock tower.
However, the best view of this statue opens up to pedestrians walking along 1 Penn Square, who shyly drop their gaze at the sight of the founding father's protruding belongings.

See what William Penn's hand looks like from JFK Plaza:

We can only guess whether the hand-penis was the author’s idea or whether the degradation of modern society, which catches a hint of genital organs in all objects with phallic shapes, is to blame.
For my part, I once again swear that this was the penultimate penis that you read about in this article!

2. Playful little hands or secret passions of Rembrandt

This is, of course, complete crap that smacks of homophobia, but some historians are convinced that Rembrandt was a homosexual and cite as proof of this the painting “The Night Watch” (De Nachtwacht), painted by him in 1642, in which, supposedly, the brilliant artist depicted the shadow of the hands of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, giving orders to the musketeers, reaching towards the groin area of ​​Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch.

Despite all its absurdity, this ridiculous theory caused a lot of noise and was further developed.

Fans of historical secrets and conspiracies agreed that Rembrandt, who did not like the warrior, wanted to ridicule the customers of the painting, which, no matter how much he wanted, he could not refuse to paint.

Adding fuel to the fire is the girl standing in the background, with a dead rooster hanging from her belt, gently hinting at the musketeers’ gayness.
In addition, ridiculing the narrow-minded mind of Captain Cock, Rembrandt depicted him with a smart look, holding another right glove in his gloved right hand.
An X-ray of the painting also showed that Reutenburg's groin area underwent the greatest number of changes during the painting of the canvas.

1. Crazy Horse Memorial by Korczak Ziulkowski

The sculpture by Korczak Ziolkowski depicts a famous episode in American Indian history when a pale man asked an Oglala Lakota warrior named Crazy Horse, “Where is your land now?” Crazy Horse responded. pointed into the distance and answered the conqueror: “My lands are where my grave is.”
In different cultures, hand gestures have different meanings, for example, what in Russia means a friendly greeting, among African tribes can be regarded as a challenge to a mortal fight.
Korczak Ziulkowski, in this case, depicted Crazy Horse with an outstretched arm and an extended index finger, which among the Indians is a rude gesture full of aggression, hatred and contempt, the softest analogue of which is the middle finger of the hand extended upward, accompanied by the phrase, beloved all over the world, “ FUCK YOU."
Thus, this gesture gives a completely different meaning to Crazy Horse's phrase, which all Native Americans quote as follows: “My land is where your graves are.”