I like secret decoder rings, invisible ink, and hidden passage ways. I think it is extremely cool to walk up to the candlestick on the wall, give it a tug, and the wall opens before our very eyes. Or the shrouded map tucked into the frame of the old painting.
The things that are just on the other side of the apparent; right behind the evident.
I’m not sure it happens much these days, but long ago, there used to be a whole lot more of these secrets going on. Buildings with tunnels, and concealed rooms, vaults, and passageways. Or. In this case. Paintings with hidden meanings.
They are abundant in some of the classics.
The first is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. There’s a scientific secret hiding there. Of course, this was painted by incredible master, Michelangelo. It is in the area that shows God giving Adam the first spark of life. You know the spot, where God is reaching out and says “Pull my finger.”
Well, the flowing reddish-brown cloak that surrounds God, and all those finely placed angels is the exact same shape as a human brain. It is almost the perfect outline, and researchers have even been able to pick out certain parts. They have equated the vertebral artery to be represented by the angel right beneath God and his green scarf. They also say you can see the pituitary gland, which I suppose could be someone’s knee.
Anyway, there are a bunch of theories as to why Michelangelo might have done this. The obvious would be the symbology — where one suggests that the brain represents God imparting divine knowledge to man/womankind. But, a more popular theory, hints that Michelangelo painted the brain in a covert protest of the church’s rejection of science. Mike was a science guy. The church, not so much. Regardless, there is the brain, for all to see.
Another sneaker Michelangelo put in was in the form of snubbing Pope Julius II. He’s the guy that commissioned the work, and in general, he was not well-liked. Especially by Mike. So he painted the Prophet Zechariah to look like the Pope. But right behind him, he painted a little angel making a hand gesture, which they called the “fig.” It wasn’t flattery, I’ll tell you that. If you want to give someone “the fig” today? It looks like the “got your nose” gesture.
And then there is The Last Supper, by the other wonder-master, Leonardo DaVinci. There are so many conspiracy theories about this painting, from Christ’s secret messages to the date the world will end. But the coolest hidden feature is the little song the painting plays. If you draw the five lines of the musical staff across the painting, the apostles’ hands and the loaves of bread on the table are in the positions of music notes. And then, they say you should read them from right to left — which is the way da Vinci wrote. And when you do, these music notes form a mini 40-second hymn-like melody. I suppose if you play them in the other direction, it might say “Paul is dead,” like when you play the Beatles’ White Album in reverse.
These are just of few of the hidden messages found in paintings, but really, they are more common than you might think. There’s Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night, and Caravaggio’s portrait of Bacchus, and many more.
Personally, I’ve never been the one to find the false bottom, or knock on the paneled wall board. In fact, I’ve never spotted a four-leaf clover on my own, or have been privy to a secret handshake. But that’s okay, because I know that they are out there, those good and magical spaces. And I like to visit them on occasion. I may not be able to see them, or hear them, but I can feel them. And every once in a great while, believing, is good enough for me.
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“The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.”
― Oscar Wilde
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“That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.”
― P.C. Hodgell, Seeker’s Mask
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“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”
― A.A. Milne
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