Posted on 12/06/2007 7:49:29 PM PST by blam
Edited on 12/07/2007 2:32:32 PM PST by Lead Moderator. [history]
Did Da Vinci hide God's face in painting?
By Aislinn Simpson
Last Updated: 2:54am GMT 07/12/2007
A new storm is brewing in the world of Da Vinci theorists after a mysterious group claimed it has used mirrors to uncover hidden biblical images in some of the great master’s most famous works.
The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings In recent years, art history scholars have unveiled Templar knights, Mary Magdalene, a child and a musical script hidden in the Italian’s paintings.
[Mod: Images removed due to threat of legal action from source]
These images, from the group's website, show how the original The Virgin and Child sketch (left) can be manipulated with mirrors to supposedly show the ancient Old Testament god Jahveh (right)
It is well-documented that Da Vinci, who lived between 1452 and 1519, often wrote in mirror writing, either in an attempt to stop his rivals stealing his ideas or in a bid to hide his scientific theories, often deemed as subversive, from the powerful Roman Catholic Church.
But now a group known as The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings World Foundation believes that he applied the same technique to some of his best-known creations, including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, to conceal mysterious faces and religious symbols.
When applied to the sketch The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, which hangs in London’s National Gallery, the authors say the mirror image reveals the ancient Old Testament god Jahveh, who "protects the soul of the body’s vices" and wears the Vatican’s crown.
Their theory would explain why many of Da Vinci’s characters seem to be pointing or staring into space, as if searching for the Divine.
The group claims they are indicating where the mirror should be placed to reveal the painting’s secrets.
In the Virgin and Child sketch, they say, it explains why John the Baptist appears to be staring past Jesus into the distance.
A similar face appears when a mirror is applied to the right hand shoulder of Mona Lisa, and the experts also claim to have found an upturned holy grail on the table in front of Christ in the celebrated Last Supper fresco.
The mirror-technique is applied to another painting of John the Baptist to reveal the four-legged image of creation and the Tree of Life in Adam and Eve’s Garden of Eden.
Again, John is pointing with both hands to the place where the mirror needs to be placed to reveal the "hidden" image.
According to the group, the same technique was used by Michelangelo and Raphael, in artwork exhibited in the Vatican, and Renaissance artists including the neoclassicist Jacques Louis David. Similar images have also been found in famous paintings and sculptures of Buddha.
The Mona Lisa supposedly shows a similar face
The study’s authors wrote to the Vatican last year to explain their discovery, but received a lofty reply saying that while their findings would no doubt be the object of much discussion in the art history world, their ideas required "solid proof" and needed to be supported by a general consensus among art critics before they could be taken seriously.
Critics of the project will claim the authors want to cash in on the worldwide fascination with Da Vinci conspiracy theories, brought to a head by the publication of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and the subsequent Tom Hanks film.
These featured the theory that the male figure on Christ’s immediate right is actually Mary Magdalene and the couple had descendants living in the modern world, and multiplied visits to sites all over the world to which Da Vinci was linked.
The latest theory, expounded by The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings group, whose website www.mirrorandart.com, is owned by the Sacred and Divine Reason and Foundation Corp, follows the revelation in July by an Italian amateur scholar that the Last Supper contained a hidden image of a woman holding a child.
The figure, he said, appeared when the fresco was superimposed with its mirror image and both were made partially transparent.
Meh
That's what I saw too - Where did the Darth Vader character come from?
btt
I remember there being some discussion back in the day that Skywalker was a Jesus-like character. Vader redeems himself through his son, Luke.
I’m so glad you posted that picture. That’s what it reminded me of also.
I’ve just discovered that DaVinci painted on tinfoil....
No kidding. And if you play the painting backwards it sounds like Satan. Somebody needs to get a life.
Ooh! Two people kissing!
remember the neat fold-in’s that Mad Magazine had on the inside of the back cover every month?
you people around here and your cats. hilarious.
Hmmmm. Tell me more about ... your toilet training.
great pic.
Maybe George Lucas was a studier of this mirror art of Da Vinci’s painting because that sure does look like Darth Vader.
The mirror art site appears to think he hid things in the middle of crotches.
Bone-imbedded bisected black bat. Or are those monkey wrenches? Why would anyone do such a think to an ink-bat? I’m going to need therapy after this!
Creepy
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