Hidden Details in Famous Pieces Of Art

17 Famous Pieces Of Art You've Probably Seen A Billion Times, But Never Noticed These Hidden Details In



I love art, and though Renaissance art isn't my favorite, I always find myself utterly and completely floored by its level of complexity. It's so complex, and there are lots of hidden Easter eggs that we're still finding! So here are hidden details in famous works of art from the Renaissance and beyond!
1.In The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, the mirror on the wall shows two additional people in the portrait, presumably standing behind the artist.

Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
2.In 2014, scientists found a hidden portrait behind The Blue Room by Pablo Picasso. Art historians don't know who the portrait is of, but it wasn't uncommon for Picasso to reuse canvasses.

Associated Press
Associated Press
3.In The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, God is actually in a giant brain.

Lucas Schifres / Getty Images
Lucas Schifres / Getty Images
4.In Death and Ascension of St. Francis by Giotto, you can see the devil hiding in the clouds.

Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images
Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images
5.The painting Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel is just that. Several proverbs can be seen sneakily illustrated in this painting, like "armed to the teeth," "the whole world in your hand," and "there's always bigger fish."

Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
6.In the Mona Lisa, the letters "LV" can be seen in her eye if you look under a microscope.

Ivy Close Images / Ivy Close Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ivy Close Images / Ivy Close Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
You can kind of see it in this close-up of her pupil.

Ivy Close Images / Ivy Close Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ivy Close Images / Ivy Close Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
7.Raphael hid himself in The School of Athens.

Print Collector / Print Collector / Getty Images
Print Collector / Print Collector / Getty Images
8.At the top of The Scream, written in pencil, is the sentence "Can only have been painted by a madman" in Norwegian. Historians believe this is Munch's handwriting, which was added to the painting by the artist after his first, heavily criticized exhibit.

Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
9.In Fishing for Souls by Adriaen van de Venne, a fly was painted like it landed on the canvas.

Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Photo 12 / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
10.John Dee was an occultist and alchemist who acted as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth. After x-raying this painting of him doing an experiment by Henry Gillard Glindoni, the National Gallery of London found a hidden circle of skulls in the background.

Universal Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo / Royal College of Physicians
Universal Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo / Royal College of Physicians
11.Recently, a self-portrait of Caravaggio was found hidden in the wine cask in Bacchus.

Mondadori Portfolio / Contributor
Mondadori Portfolio / Contributor
12.In Pieter Bruegel's The Magpie and the Gallows, someone is pooping in the bottom left-hand corner.

Heritage Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images
Heritage Images / Heritage Images / Getty Images
13.Some people think there are music notes hidden in The Last Supper by da Vinci.

Print Collector / Getty Images
Print Collector / Getty Images
Apparently, this can be uncovered by the hands and bread rolls in the painting. It sounds like this.

Print Collector / Getty Images
Print Collector / Getty Images
© Print Collector / Getty Images
14.Some scholars believe van Gogh's Caf; Terrace at Night is actually a version of The Last Supper, with the waiter coincidentally adorned in white acting as Jesus, surrounded by 12 patrons, one of which is hiding from the rest. Additionally, the window directly behind the waiter does, in fact, make a cross.

Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
OK, in these last few, it may not have taken hundreds of years to find the details, but I still like them a whole lot!
15.The National Cathedral in Washington, DC, has a Darth Vader gargoyle they included after a contest in National Geographic in the 1980s.

Rivernorthphotography / Getty Images / Eva Hambach / AFP via Getty Images
Rivernorthphotography / Getty Images / Eva Hambach / AFP via Getty Images
16.Also at the National Cathedral is a rock from the moon, embedded in a space-themed stained glass window at the top gifted to the cathedral by the Apollo 11 astronauts.

Silivonochka / Bpperry / Getty Images
Silivonochka / Bpperry / Getty Images
17.Finally, Al Hirschfeld hid his daughter's name, Nina, in the majority of his portraits. I actually wrote a whole post about it, and you can read it here!

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation / Getty Photos
The Al Hirschfeld Foundation / Getty Photos
Do you have a fun art fact? Tell me in the comments below!
Related video: Hidden Codes and Secret Symbols in Medieval Art (MedievalMadness)