Mystical paintings. Mystical paintings (16 photos)

Almost every significant work of art has a mystery, a “double bottom” or a secret story that you want to uncover.

Music on the buttocks

Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden of Earthly Delights", 1500-1510.

Fragment of part of a triptych

Disputes about meanings and hidden meanings most famous work Dutch artist have not subsided since its appearance. The right wing of the triptych called “Musical Hell” depicts sinners who are tortured in the underworld with the help of musical instruments. One of them has music notes stamped on his buttocks. Oklahoma Christian University student Amelia Hamrick, who studied the painting, translated the 16th-century notation into modern style and recorded “a 500-year-old ass song from hell.”

Nude Mona Lisa

The famous "La Gioconda" exists in two versions: the nude version is called "Monna Vanna", it was painted by the little-known artist Salai, who was a student and sitter of the great Leonardo da Vinci. Many art historians are sure that it was he who was the model for Leonardo’s paintings “John the Baptist” and “Bacchus”. There are also versions that Salai, dressed in a woman’s dress, served as the image of the Mona Lisa herself.

Old Fisherman

In 1902, the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Csontvary painted the painting “The Old Fisherman”. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in the picture, but Tivadar put into it a subtext that was never revealed during the artist’s lifetime.

Few people thought of placing a mirror in the middle of the picture. In each person there can be both God (the Old Man's right shoulder is duplicated) and the Devil (the Old Man's left shoulder is duplicated).

Was there a whale?

Hendrik van Antonissen, Shore Scene.

It would seem like an ordinary landscape. Boats, people on the shore and a deserted sea. And only an X-ray study showed that people gathered on the shore for a reason - in the original they were looking at the carcass of a whale washed ashore.

However, the artist decided that no one would want to look at a dead whale, and rewrote the painting.

Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"

Edouard Manet, "Luncheon on the Grass", 1863.

Claude Monet, "Luncheon on the Grass", 1865.

The artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are sometimes confused - after all, they were both French, lived at the same time and worked in the style of impressionism. Monet even borrowed the title of one of Manet’s most famous paintings, “Luncheon on the Grass,” and wrote his own “Luncheon on the Grass.”

Doubles at the Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper", 1495-1498.

When Leonardo da Vinci wrote The Last Supper, he attached particular importance to two figures: Christ and Judas. He spent a very long time looking for models for them. Finally, he managed to find a model for the image of Christ among the young singers. Leonardo was unable to find a model for Judas for three years. But one day he came across a drunkard on the street who was lying in a gutter. He was a young man who had been aged by heavy drinking. Leonardo invited him to a tavern, where he immediately began to paint Judas from him. When the drunkard came to his senses, he told the artist that he had already posed for him once. It was several years ago, when he sang in the church choir, Leonardo painted Christ from him.

"Night Watch" or "Day Watch"?

Rembrandt, " The night Watch", 1642.

One of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings, “The Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg,” hung in different rooms for about two hundred years and was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. Since the figures seemed to appear against a dark background, it was called “Night Watch,” and under this name it entered the treasury of world art.

And only during the restoration carried out in 1947, it was discovered that in the hall the painting had managed to become covered with a layer of soot, which distorted its color. After clearing the original painting, it was finally revealed that the scene represented by Rembrandt actually takes place during the day. The position of the shadow from Captain Kok's left hand shows that the duration of action is no more than 14 hours.

Overturned boat

Henri Matisse, "The Boat", 1937.

Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" was exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961. Only after 47 days did someone notice that the painting was hanging upside down. The canvas depicts 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. The artist painted two sails for a reason; the second sail is a reflection of the first on the surface of the water.
In order not to make a mistake in how the picture should hang, you need to pay attention to the details. The larger sail should be the top of the painting, and the peak of the painting's sail should be toward the top right corner.

Deception in self-portrait

Vincent van Gogh, "Self-Portrait with a Pipe", 1889.

There are legends that Van Gogh allegedly cut off his own ear. Now the most reliable version is that van Gogh damaged his ear in a small brawl involving another artist, Paul Gauguin.

The self-portrait is interesting because it reflects reality in a distorted form: the artist is depicted with his right ear bandaged because he used a mirror when working. In fact, it was the left ear that was affected.

Alien bears

Ivan Shishkin, "Morning in Pine forest", 1889.

The famous painting belongs not only to Shishkin. Many artists who were friends with each other often resorted to “the help of a friend,” and Ivan Ivanovich, who painted landscapes all his life, was afraid that his touching bears would not turn out the way he wanted. Therefore, Shishkin turned to his friend, the animal artist Konstantin Savitsky.

Savitsky painted perhaps the best bears in the history of Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered his name to be washed off the canvas, since everything in the picture “from the concept to the execution, everything speaks of the manner of painting, of the creative method peculiar to Shishkin.”

The innocent story of "Gothic"

Grant Wood, " American Gothic", 1930.

Grant Wood's work is considered one of the most strange and depressing in the history of American painting. The picture with the gloomy father and daughter is filled with details that indicate the severity, puritanism and retrograde nature of the people depicted.
In fact, the artist did not intend to depict any horrors: during a trip to Iowa, he noticed a small house in the Gothic style and decided to depict those people who, in his opinion, would be ideal as inhabitants. Grant's sister and his dentist are immortalized as the characters Iowans were so offended by.

Salvador Dali's Revenge

The painting "Figure at a Window" was painted in 1925, when Dali was 21 years old. At that time, Gala had not yet entered the artist’s life, and his muse was his sister Ana Maria. The relationship between brother and sister deteriorated when he wrote in one of the paintings “sometimes I spit on the portrait of my own mother, and this gives me pleasure.” Ana Maria could not forgive such shocking behavior.

In her 1949 book, Salvador Dali Through the Eyes of a Sister, she writes about her brother without any praise. The book infuriated Salvador. For another ten years after that, he angrily remembered her at every opportunity. And so, in 1954, the painting “A Young Virgin Indulging in the Sin of Sodomy with the Help of the Horns of Her Own Chastity” appeared. The woman’s pose, her curls, the landscape outside the window and the color scheme of the painting clearly echo “Figure at the Window.” There is a version that Dali took revenge on his sister for her book.

Two-faced Danae

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, "Danae", 1636 - 1647.

Many secrets of one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings were revealed only in the 60s of the twentieth century, when the canvas was illuminated with X-rays. For example, the survey showed that in early version the face of the princess who entered into love affair with Zeus, it was similar to the face of Saskia, the painter’s wife, who died in 1642. In the final version of the painting, it began to resemble the face of Gertje Dirks, Rembrandt’s mistress, with whom the artist lived after the death of his wife.

Van Gogh's yellow bedroom

Vincent Van Gogh, "Bedroom in Arles", 1888 - 1889.

In May 1888, Van Gogh acquired a small studio in Arles, in the south of France, where he fled from Parisian artists and critics who did not understand him. In one of the four rooms, Vincent sets up a bedroom. In October, everything is ready, and he decides to paint “Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles.” For the artist, the color and comfort of the room were very important: everything had to evoke thoughts of relaxation. At the same time, the picture is designed in alarming yellow tones.

Researchers of Van Gogh's work explain this by the fact that the artist took foxglove, a remedy for epilepsy, which causes serious changes in the patient's perception of color: the entire surrounding reality is painted in green and yellow tones.

Toothless perfection

Leonardo da Vinci, "Portrait of Lady Lisa del Giocondo", 1503 - 1519.

The generally accepted opinion is that the Mona Lisa is perfection and her smile is beautiful in its mystery. However, American art critic (and part-time dentist) Joseph Borkowski believes that, judging by her facial expression, the heroine has lost many teeth. While studying enlarged photographs of the masterpiece, Borkowski also discovered scars around her mouth. “She “smiles” like that precisely because of what happened to her,” the expert believes. “Her facial expression is typical of people who have lost their front teeth.”

Major on face control

Pavel Fedotov, "Major's Matchmaking", 1848.

The public, who first saw the painting “Major's Matchmaking,” laughed heartily: the artist Fedotov filled it with ironic details that were understandable to the audience of that time. For example, the major is clearly not familiar with the rules of noble etiquette: he showed up without the required bouquets for the bride and her mother. And her merchant parents dressed the bride herself in an evening ball gown, although it was daytime (all the lamps in the room were extinguished). The girl obviously tried on a low-cut dress for the first time, is embarrassed and tries to run away to her room.

Why is Liberty naked?

Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix, "Freedom on the Barricades", 1830.

According to art critic Etienne Julie, Delacroix based the woman's face on the famous Parisian revolutionary - the laundress Anne-Charlotte, who went to the barricades after the death of her brother at the hands of royal soldiers and killed nine guardsmen. The artist depicted her with her breasts bare. According to his plan, this is a symbol of fearlessness and selflessness, as well as the triumph of democracy: the naked breast shows that Liberty, as a commoner, does not wear a corset.

Non-square square

Kazimir Malevich, "Black Suprematist Square", 1915.

In fact, “Black Square” is not black at all and not square at all: none of the sides of the quadrangle are parallel to any of its other sides, and to none of the sides of the square frame that frames the picture. A dark color- this is the result of mixing various colors, among which there was no black one. It is believed that this was not the author’s negligence, but a principled position, the desire to create a dynamic, moving form.

Specialists from the Tretyakov Gallery discovered the author's inscription on the famous painting by Malevich. The inscription reads: “The battle of the blacks in the dark cave.” This phrase refers to the title of the humorous painting by the French journalist, writer and artist Alphonse Allais, “The Battle of the Negroes in a Dark Cave.” late at night", which was a completely black rectangle.

Melodrama of the Austrian Mona Lisa

Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer", 1907.

One of Klimt's most significant paintings depicts the wife of the Austrian sugar magnate Ferdinad Bloch-Bauer. All of Vienna was discussing the stormy romance of Adele and famous artist. The wounded husband wanted to take revenge on his lovers, but chose a very unusual method: he decided to order a portrait of Adele from Klimt and force him to make hundreds of sketches until the artist began to vomit from her.

Bloch-Bauer wanted the work to last several years, so that the sitter could see how Klimt's feelings were fading. He made a generous offer to the artist, which he could not refuse, and everything turned out according to the scenario of the deceived husband: the work was completed in 4 years, the lovers had long since cooled off to each other. Adele Bloch-Bauer never knew that her husband was aware of her relationship with Klimt.

The painting that brought Gauguin back to life

Paul Gauguin, "Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?", 1897-1898.

Gauguin's most famous painting has one peculiarity: it is “read” not from left to right, but from right to left, like the Kabbalistic texts in which the artist was interested. It is in this order that the allegory of human spiritual and physical life unfolds: from the birth of the soul (a sleeping child in the lower right corner) to the inevitability of the hour of death (a bird with a lizard in its claws in the lower left corner).

The painting was painted by Gauguin in Tahiti, where the artist escaped from civilization several times. But this time life on the island did not work out: total poverty led him to depression. Having finished the canvas, which was to become his spiritual testament, Gauguin took a box of arsenic and went to the mountains to die. However, he did not calculate the dose, and the suicide failed. The next morning, he swayed to his hut and fell asleep, and when he woke up, he felt a forgotten thirst for life. And in 1898, his business began to improve, and a brighter period began in his work.

112 proverbs in one picture

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, "Dutch Proverbs", 1559

Pieter Bruegel the Elder 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.

Subjectivity of art

Paul Gauguin, "Breton Village in the Snow", 1894

Gauguin's painting "Breton Village in the Snow" was sold after the author's death for only seven francs and, moreover, under the name "Niagara Falls." The man holding the auction accidentally hung the painting upside down because he saw a waterfall in it.

Hidden picture

Pablo Picasso, "Blue Room", 1901

In 2008, infrared radiation revealed that hidden beneath the Blue Room was another image - a portrait of a man dressed in a suit with a bow tie and resting his head on his hand. “As soon as Picasso had new idea, he took up the brush and embodied it. But he did not have the opportunity to buy a new canvas every time a muse visited him,” art historian Patricia Favero explains a possible reason for this.

Unavailable Moroccans

Zinaida Serebryakova, “Naked”, 1928

One day Zinaida Serebryakova received a tempting offer - to go on a creative journey to depict nude figures eastern maidens. But it turned out that it was simply impossible to find models in those places. Zinaida's translator came to the rescue - he brought his sisters and fiancee to her. No one before or since has been able to capture closed oriental women naked.

Spontaneous insight

Valentin Serov, “Portrait of Nicholas II in a jacket,” 1900

For a long time, Serov could not paint a portrait of the Tsar. When the artist completely gave up, he apologized to Nikolai. Nikolai was a little upset, sat down at the table, stretching out his arms in front of him... And then it dawned on the artist - here is the image! A simple military man in an officer's jacket with clear and sad eyes. This portrait is considered the best depiction of the last emperor.

Another deuce

© Fedor Reshetnikov

The famous painting “Deuce Again” is only the second part of an artistic trilogy.

The first part is “Arrived on vacation.” Obviously a wealthy family, winter holidays, a joyful excellent student.

The second part is “A deuce again.” A poor family from the working-class outskirts, the height of school year, the dejected stunner, who again grabbed the deuce. In the upper left corner you can see the painting “Arrived for Vacation”.

The third part is “Re-examination”. Country house, summer, everyone is walking, one malicious ignoramus, who failed the annual exam, is forced to sit in four walls and cram. In the upper left corner you can see the painting “Deuce Again.”

How masterpieces are born

Joseph Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed, 1844

In 1842, Mrs. Simon traveled by train in England. Suddenly a heavy downpour began. The elderly gentleman sitting opposite her stood up, opened the window, stuck his head out and stared for about ten minutes. Unable to contain her curiosity, the woman also opened the window and began to look ahead. A year later, she discovered the painting “Rain, Steam and Speed” at an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and was able to recognize in it the same episode on the train.

Anatomy lesson from Michelangelo

Michelangelo, "The Creation of Adam", 1511

A pair of American neuroanatomy experts believe that Michelangelo actually left some anatomical illustrations in one of his most famous works. They believe that the right side of the painting depicts a huge brain. Surprisingly, you can even find complex components such as the cerebellum, optic nerves and pituitary gland. And the eye-catching green ribbon perfectly matches the location of the vertebral artery.

"The Last Supper" by Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh, " Night terrace cafe", 1888

Researcher Jared Baxter believes that Van Gogh’s painting “Cafe Terrace at Night” contains an encrypted dedication to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper.” In the center of the picture stands a waiter with long hair and in a white tunic reminiscent of the clothes of Christ, and around him there are exactly 12 cafe visitors. Baxter also draws attention to the cross located directly behind the waiter in white.

Dali's image of memory

Salvador Dali, "The Persistence of Memory", 1931

It is no secret that the thoughts that visited Dali during the creation of his masterpieces were always in the form of very realistic images, which the artist then transferred to canvas. Thus, according to the author himself, the painting “The Persistence of Memory” was painted as a result of associations that arose from the sight of processed cheese.

What is Munch screaming about?

Edvard Munch, "The Scream", 1893.

Munch spoke about the idea of ​​one of the most mysterious paintings in world painting: “I was walking along a 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 blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends moved on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling the endless scream piercing nature." But what kind of sunset could frighten the artist so much?

There is a version that the idea of ​​​​"The Scream" was born to Munch in 1883, when several powerful eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano occurred - so powerful that they changed the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere by one degree. Copious amounts of dust and ash spread throughout to the globe, even reaching Norway. For several evenings in a row, the sunsets looked as if the apocalypse was about to come - one of them became a source of inspiration for the artist.

A writer among the people

Alexander Ivanov, "The Appearance of Christ to the People", 1837-1857.

Dozens of sitters posed for Alexander Ivanov for his main picture. One of them is known no less than the artist himself. In the background, among travelers and Roman horsemen who have not yet heard the sermon of John the Baptist, you can see a character in a robe tunic. Ivanov wrote it from Nikolai Gogol. The writer communicated closely with the artist in Italy, in particular on religious issues, and gave him advice during the painting process. Gogol believed that Ivanov “has long since died for the whole world, except for his work.”

Michelangelo's Gout

Raphael Santi, "The School of Athens", 1511.

Creating the famous fresco "The School of Athens", Raphael immortalized his friends and acquaintances in the images of ancient Greek philosophers. One of them was Michelangelo Buonarotti “in the role” of Heraclitus. For several centuries, the fresco kept the secrets of Michelangelo's personal life, and modern researchers have suggested that the artist's strangely angular knee indicates that he had a joint disease.

This is quite likely, given the peculiarities of the lifestyle and working conditions of Renaissance artists and Michelangelo’s chronic workaholism.

Mirror of the Arnolfini couple

Jan van Eyck, "Portrait of the Arnolfini couple", 1434

In the mirror behind the Arnolfini couple you can see the reflection of two more people in the room. Most likely, these are witnesses present at the conclusion of the contract. One of them is van Eyck, as evidenced by the Latin inscription placed, contrary to tradition, above the mirror in the center of the composition: “Jan van Eyck was here.” This is how contracts were usually sealed.

How a disadvantage turned into a talent

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, Self-Portrait at the Age of 63, 1669.

Researcher Margaret Livingston studied all of Rembrandt's self-portraits and discovered that the artist suffered from strabismus: in the images his eyes look in different directions, which is not observed in the portraits of other people by the master. The illness resulted in the artist being able to perceive reality in two dimensions better than people with normal vision. This phenomenon is called "stereo blindness" - the inability to see the world in 3D. But since the painter has to work with a two-dimensional image, this very flaw of Rembrandt could be one of the explanations for his phenomenal talent.

Sinless Venus

Sandro Botticelli, "Birth of Venus", 1482-1486.

Before the appearance of the "Birth of Venus" the image of a naked female body in painting it symbolized only the idea of ​​original sin. Sandro Botticelli was the first of the European painters to find nothing sinful in him. Moreover, art historians are sure that the pagan goddess of love symbolizes a Christian image in the fresco: her appearance is an allegory of the rebirth of a soul that has undergone the rite of baptism.

Lute player or lute player?

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, "The Lute Player", 1596.

For a long time the painting was exhibited in the Hermitage under the title “The Lute Player”. Only at the beginning of the 20th century did art historians agree that the painting depicts a young man (probably Caravaggio’s acquaintance, the artist Mario Minniti, posed for him): on the notes in front of the musician one can see a recording of the bass line of Jacob Arkadelt’s madrigal “You know that I love you” . A woman could hardly make such a choice - it’s just hard on the throat. In addition, the lute, like the violin at the very edge of the picture, was considered a male instrument in Caravaggio’s era.

Since ancient times, people have believed in the mystical power of paintings. Enough to remember primitive tribes and their rock paintings depicting scenes of a successful hunt: by depicting prey pierced by spears, the ancient artists tried to clearly show the patron spirits what they expected from the coming day.

However, there are many legends and tales that tell of cursed paintings that bring misfortune and even death to their owners.

"The Demon Defeated" by Vrubel

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, one of the most famous artists in Russia, distinguished himself with two “cursed” canvases. The first painting, a portrait of his beloved son Savva, was painted shortly before the child’s death. A bitter loss in the artist’s family occurred unexpectedly: Savva fell ill and died suddenly.

During the same period, Mikhail Alexandrovich painted the painting “The Defeated Demon.” Its creation coincided with serious deterioration in physical and mental health the artist, including against the backdrop of the death of his little son. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he could not tear himself away from painting the picture, each time adding more and more new touches. Moreover, one day a Demon appeared to him in a dream and demanded that the painting be called an icon, since the beautiful defeated evil should be worshiped like other martyrs.

After the painting was sent to the exhibition, Vrubel followed it and continued to make changes to his work directly in exhibition hall. Realizing that he was becoming obsessed, Vrubel agreed to treatment at psychiatric clinic. However, the artist’s illness did not subside. Having improved your state of mind and returning to his former life, he began to lose his sight and last years spent his life in complete darkness.

"The Crying Boy" by Giovanni Bragolin

In 1985 in Northern England a series of fires occurred. Some victims claimed that of all their property, only a reproduction of the painting “The Crying Boy,” painted by Giovanni Bragolina, survived. Italian artists XX century. In a short time, rumors spread throughout the country that the painting was cursed. It even got to the point where one of the printed publications published information that all owners of reproductions of this painting must immediately get rid of them; moreover, the acquisition and storage of copies of the painting was prohibited by the authorities.

According to legend, Bragolina used his son as a sitter for this painting, and to obtain the desired emotion, he burned matches in front of the baby’s face. This was especially cruel because the artist knew that his little son was terrified of fire.

In the end, the exhausted child shouted to his father: “Burn yourself!”, and these words were soon fulfilled. A couple of weeks later, the boy died of pneumonia, and soon the house in which his father was located burned down.

"Water Lilies" by Claude Monet

The canvas “Water Lilies” by the impressionist Claude Monet is also considered cursed: almost immediately after the painting was completed, a fire occurred in the artist’s workshop. "Water Lilies" survived.

In order to renovate his studio, Claude Monet sold the painting to the owner of one of the cabarets in Montmartre. Alas, the landscape did not decorate this entertainment establishment for long: in less than six months it turned into ashes. Did anything survive? Yes, the fire spared “Water Lilies” this time too.

Then the picture went to one of the Parisian patrons - Oscar Schmitz. And a year later his house burned to the ground: they say that the fire started in the room on the wall of which the painting hung. By the way, she survived again.

Similar stories were repeated over and over again, and in 1955 “Water Lilies” ended up in the New York Museum of Modern Art. The picture did not please the eyes of visitors for long. Three years later, the second floor, on which the painting was displayed, was seriously damaged by fire. This time, the ill-fated masterpiece also perished in the fire.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch

The painting “The Scream” by the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is one of the most recognizable and quoted works of art. Its cost is estimated at tens of millions of dollars, but many people would probably refuse to hang it in their home, even if they got it for free. The fact is that many accidents and coincidences are associated with this painting, which makes one think about the curse that this painting carries.

Many people whose activities were in one way or another connected with the painting experienced its negative impact: deepest depression, sudden death and breaking off relationships with loved ones is just the beginning of the list.

Located in the Oslo Museum, the painting did not forgive anyone who in one way or another encroached on its safety. So, one of the museum employees once accidentally dropped a masterpiece. Soon he began to have severe headaches, which drove him to suicide.

Another museum worker also accidentally dropped a painting while hanging it from one wall to another. A few days later, he was in a terrible car accident, suffering a concussion and serious broken limbs.

As you know, museum exhibits cannot be touched. The violator of this rule, who touched the canvas with his fingers, burned alive in his house a couple of days after that.

Video - Cursed paintings TOP 5

Let's see what other stories there were related to paintings and artists.

Fine art has always been considered closely related to the mystical sphere. After all, any image is an energetic imprint of the original, especially if we're talking about about portraits. It is believed that they are able to influence not only those from whom they are written, but also other people. You don’t have to look far for examples: let’s turn to Russian painting of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

On August 5, 1844, the famous Russian Itinerant artist Ilya Repin was born. He created truly realistic canvases, which are still a treasure trove to this day. art galleries. Repin is called mystical artist. I present a selection of inexplicable facts related to the painter’s paintings.

Ilya Repin - a thunderstorm for sitters?

It is unlikely that anyone will argue that Ilya Efimovich Repin is one of the greatest Russian painters. But there is one strange and tragic circumstance: many who had the honor of being his sitters soon died. Among them are Mussorgsky, Pisemsky, Pirogov, and the Italian actor Mercy d’Argenteau. As soon as the artist took up the portrait of Fyodor Tyutchev, he also died.

I. Repin “Portrait of the composer M.P. Mussorgsky”

It must be said right away that Repin painted a portrait of his friend even when he was dying. Experienced doctors at the Nikolaev Marine Hospital knew about this. The composer himself knew. The artist knew too. The inspired portrait created by Repin made a stunning impression. The portrait was painted within 4 days.
The brilliant Russian composer who had just died appeared before everyone as if alive. Revived and immortalized by the brush of a master.
Psychological truth. Deep similarity. The very nature of the giant musician is reflected in the picture. It is now, sadly enough, that the gigantic scale of the phenomenon in national culture that Mussorgsky represented has been revealed.
The canvas was immediately brought to the mobile.
Stasov rushed straight from the funeral service to the exhibition to hasten the exhibition of the portrait. There was no frame.
We decided to drape the canvas with black material.
The first thing Stasov saw was the numb figure of Kramskoy. He was sitting on a chair.
He moved close to the painting and devoured it with his eyes:
“What Repin is doing today,” he exclaimed, “is simply incomprehensible. Here he has some unheard of techniques, never tried by anyone. This portrait was painted God knows how quickly, fieryly. But how everything is drawn, by what master’s hand, how it’s sculpted, how it’s written! Look at these eyes: they look as if they were alive, they are thoughtful, all the inner, spiritual work of that moment was depicted in them, and how many portraits are there in the world with such an expression! And the body, and the cheeks, forehead, nose, mouth - a living, completely living face, and everything in the light, from the first to the last line, all in the sun, without a single shadow - what a creature!
Tretyakov had sent a telegram the day before, informing him that he was asking behind the scenes to leave the portrait behind him.
This act contained all the character of a unique collector.
From the first moments, everyone who saw the portrait, shocked by what had been created, “with one voice trumpeted the glory of Repin.”
X artist Ilya Efimovich Repin, portrait of surgeon N.I. Pirogov

The portrait of N. I. Pirogov was painted in May 1881, a few months before the death of the great Russian surgeon and scientist. This year the fiftieth anniversary was solemnly celebrated in Moscow. professional activity Pirogov. The brilliant surgeon agreed to pose for Repin, despite his busy schedule of events.
Subsequently, Repin recalled how he was captured by his talent and the unique personality of the person being portrayed, and how easily and quickly he worked. It only took three sessions to create a stunning finished portrait.
Pirogov died in November 1881 from jaw cancer.
Artist Ilya Efimovich Repin, Portrait of the writer A.F. Pisemsky. 1880

Repin also painted Pisemsky’s portrait when he was ill. Repin knew him personally and knew well the caustic sarcasticness of this writer; sometimes his works deliberately contained unfriendly mockery and skepticism - all this can be felt in the portrait. Pisemsky is no longer young and sick, and the viewer also sees this. His high, intelligent forehead, bags under his eyes, a sickly face, but lively eyes, as if peering inquisitively at those who look at him... The viewer feels the insight of this man, as well as his disdain for his appearance and the impression he will make on those around: Pisemsky is depicted sitting, leaning on a gnarled stick. His beard is unkempt, and there is a stubborn tuft above his forehead; a bow under the collar is out of fashion, as is a baggy jacket... Sick, foreboding imminent death, Pisemsky is depicted here sitting on a chair and leaning with both hands on a stick. Those who knew Pisemsky personally noted the truthfulness of the writer’s artistic characterization, the accurate representation of the appearance of this man and his inner world.
Repin also knew the dramatic circumstances of Pisemsky’s life: one of his sons committed suicide, and the second was terminally ill. Traces of this tragedy are also present in the portrait... By the way, it must be said that this portrait was commissioned by Tretyakov, who wanted to collect portraits of all outstanding contemporaries.
Ilya Repin. Portrait of I.S. Turgenev. 1874

Turgenev was not satisfied with this portrait, and Repin himself did not like the portrait, which the artist openly told Tretyakov about, took upon himself this “sin” and was consoled by the hope that someday he would correct this “almost involuntary” mistake. Repin spoke about the reasons for this “involuntary” mistake, for which Turgenev himself was primarily to blame, shortly before his death.
“The first session was so successful,” said Repin, “that I.S. triumphed over my success.” But before the second session, Repin received a “long” and “restless” note from Turgenev, in which he sharply changed his initial opinion about the portrait he had begun (this was “a completely unsuccessful start”) and asked the artist to start again on a different canvas. This instant change of opinion is explained, as Repin argued, by the fact that Pauline Viardot, the famous French singer, a friend of Turgenev, whose taste and judgments were the highest authority for Ivan Sergeevich, rejected the portrait he had begun and recommended painting a new one, in a different direction. No matter how much the artist tried to convince Turgenev that nothing would come of this, it did not help. “And, oh my stupidity, I rashly turned my successfully captured bright underpainting (which should not have been touched) head down and started from another turn... Alas, the portrait came out dry and boring.”
And yet Repin had a friendly meeting with Turgenev in Abramtsevo and even began to paint a new portrait of him. The culprit of this was P. M. Tretyakov, who, taking advantage of Turgenev’s arrival in Moscow, asked Repin to “push” towards the writer in order to paint his portrait again.
Repin agreed to paint a new portrait of Turgenev; he painted it in early 1879.
Artist Ilya Efimovich Repin, Portrait of Ivan Turgenev. 1879

Only 5 years later Repin was able to paint a new portrait, in which you can see a humane, majestic and wise writer. The picture reeks of psychologism - the whole composition is so thought out that the face and hands seem not drawn, but sculpted from living plastic. The image of the second portrait is monumental due to the lowered horizon, the black jacket, painted with broad strokes and emphasizing the smooth silhouette of the figure. Only the hands and head are light on the canvas - this is how Repin balances the composition. Since 1882, Turgenev began to be overcome by illnesses: gout, angina pectoris, neuralgia. As a result of a painful illness (sarcoma), he died on August 22 (September 3), 1883 in Bougival (a suburb of Paris). Death was preceded by more than a year and a half of painful illness (spinal cord cancer).

Regarding the portrait of Tyutchev, this is not the desire of the artist himself to paint a portrait, but again an order from Tretyakov. But Repin did not even have time to start work. The writer died. But the most tragic story with a portrait of Fyodor Vasilyevich Chizhov.
Ilya Efimovich Repin. Death of Fyodor Vasilyevich Chizhov.
Fyodor Vasilyevich Chizhov (1811-1877) - Russian industrialist, public figure, scientist. Supporter of the Slavophiles, publisher and editor of socio-political magazines and newspapers, organizer of railway construction, philanthropist.

Repin met him in France at Polenov's. IT Chizhov more than once asked both artists to paint his portrait. And both refused under the pretext of lack of time.
But in November 1877, having learned that Chizhov was in Moscow, Repin decided to fulfill his promise. The artist hurries to Chizhov, taking with him a pencil and pencils. But the unexpected happens. He finds Chizhov sitting in a chair at the table... he has just died suddenly...
And so it appeared dead man drawing Chizhov, which Repin subsequently presented to Savva Mamontov.
What is this? Rock, chance, fatality?

Fyodor Vasilyevich Chizhov died on November 26, 1877 in Moscow. God gave him an easy end - he died in the arms of his friends and students from an aortic aneurysm. Chizhov bequeathed to spend only 150 rubles on his own funeral, giving almost all of his capital to the Kostroma province.
He was buried in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow, near the grave of N.V. Gogol. In 1931, in connection with the opening of a juvenile colony in the monastery, Gogol’s ashes were transferred to Novodevichy Cemetery, and Chizhov’s grave was lost.

Of course, in all cases there were objective reasons for death, but here are coincidences... Even the hefty men who posed for Repin for the canvas “Barge Haulers on the Volga” are said to have prematurely given their souls to God.
"Barge Haulers on the Volga", 1870-1873

However, the most unpleasant story happened with the painting “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581,” which in our time is better known as “Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son.” Even balanced people felt uneasy when looking at the canvas: the murder scene was painted too realistically, there was too much blood on the canvas that seemed real.

Exhibited in Tretyakov Gallery the canvas made a strange impression on visitors. Some cried in front of the picture, others fell into a stupor, and others suffered hysterical fits. And the young icon painter Abram Balashov cut the canvas with a knife on January 16, 1913. He was sent to a mental hospital, where he died. The canvas was restored. After the attack on the painting, another tragedy occurred. The chief curator of the Tretyakov Gallery, artist Khruslov, committed suicide.
Having said in the gallery that he would be gone for half an hour, he left for Sokolniki and threw himself under a train. But what does Repin have to do with it? Khruslov, a man dedicated to his work, according to his colleagues, considered himself guilty for the act of vandalism that had occurred.
“Ivan the Terrible kills his son,” 1883-1885

It is known that Repin thought for a long time before taking on the film about Ivan the Terrible. And for good reason. The artist Myasoedov, from whom the image of the Tsar was painted, soon in anger almost killed his young son, who was also called Ivan, like the murdered Tsarevich. The image of the latter was based on the writer Vsevolod Garshin, who subsequently went crazy and committed suicide by throwing himself into a flight of stairs... Coincidences... but some very creepy ones!

A murder that never happened

The story that Ivan the Terrible is a son-killer is just a myth.

It is believed that Ivan the Terrible killed his son in a fit of anger with a blow to the temple from his staff. Different researchers give different reasons: from a domestic quarrel to political friction. Meanwhile, none of the sources directly states that the prince and heir to the throne was killed by his own father!

The “Piskarevsky Chronicler” says: “At 12 o’clock in the night of the summer of November 7090 on the 17th day... the death of Tsarevich John Ioannovich.” The Novgorod Fourth Chronicle reports: “In the same year (7090) Tsarevich John Ioannovich reposed at Matins in Sloboda.” The cause of death has not been announced.
In the 60s of the last century, the graves of Ivan the Terrible and his son were opened. There were no damages characteristic of brain injury on the prince’s skull. Therefore, there was no filicide?! But where did the legend about him come from?
Antonio Possevino - Vatican representative in Russia during the times of Ivan the Terrible and the Great Troubles

Its author is the Jesuit monk Anthony Possevino (Antonio Possevino), sent to Moscow as an ambassador from the Pope with a proposal Orthodox Church come under the authority of the Vatican. The idea did not meet with support from the Russian Tsar. Possevin, meanwhile, allegedly became an eyewitness to a family scandal. The Emperor was angry with his pregnant daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Ivan, for her “indecent appearance” - either she forgot to put on a belt, or she put on only one shirt, when she was supposed to wear four. In the heat of the moment, the father-in-law began to beat the unfortunate woman with a staff. The prince stood up for his wife: before this, his father had already sent his first two wives to the monastery, who could not conceive from him. John the Younger was not unreasonably afraid that he would lose the third one - her father would simply kill her. He rushed at the priest, and in a fit of violence he struck with his staff and pierced his son’s temple. However, besides Possevin, not a single source confirms this version, although later other historians - Staden and Karamzin - readily picked it up.

• Modern researchers suggest that the Jesuit came up with the legend in revenge for the fact that he had to return to papal court"slurping unsalted."

During exhumation, remains of poisons were found in the bone tissues of the prince. This may indicate that John the Younger died from poisoning (which was not uncommon for those times), and not from being hit by a hard object!

Nevertheless, in Repin’s painting we see precisely the version of filicide. It is performed with such extraordinary verisimilitude that you can’t help but believe that this is exactly what happened in reality. Hence, of course, the “killer” energy.

And again Repin distinguished himself Self-portrait of Repin

Once Repin was commissioned to create a huge monumental painting, “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council.” The painting was completed by the end of 1903.
And in 1905, the first Russian revolution broke out, during which the heads of the officials depicted on the canvas fell. Some lost their posts and titles, others even paid with their lives: Minister V.K. Plehve and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, former governor-general of Moscow, was killed by terrorists.
In 1909, the artist commissioned the Saratov City Duma to paint a portrait of Prime Minister Stolypin. He had barely finished his work when Stolypin was shot dead in Kyiv.

Who knows - maybe if Ilya Repin had not been so talented, the tragedies might not have happened. Back in the 15th century, the scientist, philosopher, alchemist and magician Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim wrote: “Beware of the painter’s brush - his portrait may turn out to be more alive than the original.” P. A. Stolypin. Portrait by I. Repin (1910)

It is known that due to constant overwork, the famous painter began to get sick, and then completely stopped working. right hand. For a while, Repin stopped creating and fell into depression. According to the mystical version, the artist’s hand stopped working after he painted the painting “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan” in 1885. Mystics connect these two facts from the artist’s biography with the fact that the painting he painted was cursed. Like, Repin reflected non-existent historical event, and because of this he was cursed. However, later Ilya Efimovich learned to paint with his left hand.

Another mystical incident Something that affected the artist’s health happened to him in his hometown of Chuguev. There he painted the painting “The Man with the Evil Eye.” The sitter for the portrait was Repin's distant relative, Ivan Radov, a goldsmith. This man was known in the city as a sorcerer. After Ilya Efimovich painted Radov’s portrait, he, not an old and quite healthy man, fell ill. “I caught a damned fever in the village,” Repin complained to his friends, “Perhaps my illness is connected with this sorcerer. I myself experienced the strength of this man, and twice.”

Scientists, studying the phantom images of paintings, came to the conclusion that, for example, “The Ninth Wave” by Aivazovsky, “Water Lilies” by the impressionist Claude Monet, “Venus with a Mirror” by Velazquez and a number of other famous paintings have the same negative aura.

Among the paintings with which are associated mystical legends, I would like to mention the paintings of the artist Ivan Kramskoy. His works were highly appreciated by his contemporaries and aroused many rumors about his mystical influence on the viewer.
Portrait of Ivan Kramskoy by Ilya Repin

Mystical painting “Stranger” by Ivan Kramskoy

Painting amazingly experienced two periods of mass interest in itself, and in completely different eras. For the first time, after being written in 1883, it was considered the embodiment of aristocracy and was very popular among the sophisticated St. Petersburg public.
Unexpectedly, another surge of interest in the “Unknown” occurred in the second half of the 20th century. Apartments were decorated with reproductions of Kramskoy’s work cut out from magazines, and copies of “The Unknown” were one of the most popular orders from artists of all levels. True, for some reason the painting was already known under the name “Stranger,” perhaps under the influence work of the same name Blok. Even “Stranger” candies were created with Kramskoy’s painting on the box. Thus, the erroneous title of the work finally “came to life.”
Many years of research into “who is depicted in Kramskoy’s painting” have not yielded results. According to one version, the prototype of the “symbol of aristocracy” was a peasant woman named Matryona, who married the nobleman Bestuzhev.

“The Stranger” by Ivan Kramskoy is one of the most mysterious masterpieces of Russian painting.

At first glance, there is nothing mystical in the portrait: the beauty is riding along Nevsky Prospect in an open carriage.

Many considered Kramskoy’s heroine an aristocrat, but a fashionable velvet coat trimmed with fur and blue satin ribbons and a stylish beret hat, coupled with penciled eyebrows, lipstick on her lips and blush on her cheeks, mark her out as a lady of the then demi-monde. Not a prostitute, but clearly the kept woman of some noble or rich man.

However, when the artist was asked whether this woman existed in reality, he just grinned and shrugged. In any case, no one has ever seen the original.
Meanwhile, Pavel Tretyakov refused to purchase a portrait for his gallery - perhaps he was afraid of the belief that portraits of beauties “suck the strength” out of living people. Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

The “Stranger” began traveling to private meetings. And very soon she gained notoriety. Its first owner's wife left him, the second's house burned down, and the third went bankrupt. All these misfortunes were attributed to the fatal picture.

The “damned” picture went abroad. They say that there she caused all kinds of trouble to her owners. In 1925, “The Stranger” returned to Russia and nevertheless took its place in the Tretyakov Gallery. Since then, no further incidents have occurred.

Maybe the whole point is that the portrait should have taken its rightful place from the very beginning?


"Stranger" or "Unknown", (1883)

The picture caused a heated discussion - who is this mysterious person looking down on the public? Aristocrat or lady of the demimonde?

“Her outfit is a “Francis” hat, trimmed with elegant light feathers, “Swedish” gloves made from the finest leather, a “Skobelev” coat, decorated with sable fur and blue satin ribbons, a muff, a gold bracelet - all these are fashionable details of a women’s costume of the 1880s. XX years, claiming to be expensive elegance. However, this did not mean belonging to high society; rather, on the contrary, the code of unwritten rules excluded strict adherence to fashion in the highest circles of Russian society.”

It is believed that Kramskoy was inspired to paint the picture by the story of the peasant woman Matryona Savishna, with whom the nobleman Bestuzhev fell in love. The young master came to the village to visit his aunt and was fascinated by the young maid Matryona, who was taken from the village. Bestuzhev decided to marry Matryona despite the condemnation of society. His relatives in St. Petersburg taught a simple girl etiquette and dancing. The former lady once met Matryona in St. Petersburg, but the maid, who became a noble lady, proudly rode past her mistress.

The artist heard this story from Matryona while visiting the Bestuzhivys. “Oh, what a meeting I just had!” - Matryona boasted, talking about how she drove past the lady.
Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait, 1874

The artist decided to depict in the picture the episode when the former maid meets her mistress and gives her an arrogant look.

They said that love for a “stranger” did not bring happiness to Bestuzhev, he often had to fight a duel with obsessive admirers of his wife, and many unfortunate people committed suicide because of the proud beauty. She had an amazing magical influence on men.

Concerned relatives of Bestuzhev achieved that the marriage was annulled. "The Stranger" is back in native village, where she soon died.

The fatal fame of the painted “stranger” created the reputation of a cursed painting.

They said that the buyers of the painting were haunted by misfortunes - ruin, sudden death of loved ones, madness. The unfortunate owners claimed that the painting was sucking all the vitality out of them. Even the philanthropist Tretyakov refused to buy the painting, fearing a curse. The painting entered the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery in 1925.

According to one of Kramskoy’s legends, the kept woman of industrialist Savva Morozov posed for “The Stranger,” who died under the wheels of a carriage, and now her ghost wanders the streets of Moscow.

It was claimed that a curse fell on Kramskoy's family; his sons died within a year of painting the fatal picture. If you look at the dates of death of Kramskoy’s children, this legend is easy to refute. The youngest son Mark died in 1876 long before The Stranger was written. The eldest sons: Nikolai (1863-1938) and Anatoly (1865-1941) survived their father.

"Inconsolable Grief" (1884)

In memory of the deceased youngest son Kramskoy created the painting “Inconsolable Grief,” which depicts a grieving woman in mourning at the coffin.

“The woman in the black dress irrefutably simply, naturally stopped at the box of flowers, one step from the viewer, in the only fatal step that separates grief from the one who sympathizes with grief - amazingly visibly and completely lay down in the picture in front of the woman, this glance only outlined emptiness. The woman’s gaze (the eyes are not tragically dark, but everyday red) imperiously attracts the viewer’s gaze, but does not respond to it. In the depths of the room, on the left, behind the curtain (not behind the curtain-decoration, but the curtain - an ordinary and inconspicuous piece of furniture) is slightly open door, and there is also emptiness, an unusually expressive, narrow, high emptiness, penetrated by the dull red flame of wax candles (all that remains of the lighting effect)"- wrote critic Vladimir Porudominsky.

Sketch of a painting

Kramskoy donated the painting to the Tretyakov Gallery. "Take this from me tragic picture as a gift, if it is not superfluous in Russian painting and finds a place in your gallery"- wrote the artist. The noble Tretyakov accepted the painting and persistently handed the fee to Kramskoy.

“I was in no hurry to purchase this painting in St. Petersburg, probably knowing that due to its content it would not find buyers, but I then decided to purchase it.”- wrote Tretyakov.

“It is absolutely fair that my painting “Inconsolable Grief” will not find a buyer, I know this just as well, perhaps even better, but a Russian artist is still on the path to his goal, as long as he believes that serving art is his task, until he has mastered everything, he is not yet spoiled and therefore is still able to write a thing without counting on sales. Whether I'm right or wrong, I'm in in this case I just wanted to serve art. If no one needs the painting now, it is not superfluous in the school of Russian painting in general. This is not self-delusion, because I sincerely sympathized with my mother’s grief, I searched for a long time for a pure form and finally settled on this form because for more than 2 years this form did not arouse criticism in me ... "- the artist reasoned.


Sketch of a painting
“This is not a picture, but reality”- Repin admired the depicted depth of feelings.

The legend of a ghostly woman in black who lost her child quickly spread through folklore.
She is mentioned in the poem "Moscow-Petushki" and pursues the frightened hero in a train carriage “a woman, all in black from head to toe, stood at the window and, indifferently looking at the darkness outside the window, pressed a lace handkerchief to her lips.”

Let's move on to another picture.


"Moonlit Night" (1880)
Moonlight attracted the artist, who sought to “catch the moon.” Interestingly, two ladies posed for the picture. The artist’s first model was Anna Popova (Mendeleev’s wife), and then Elena Matveeva (Tretyakov’s wife) posed for the painting.

The play of moonlight in the picture simply captivates the viewer. The woman silently looks at the surface of the water, she is sad, and strives for solitude, because even the breeze does not dare to disturb the moonlit park. The artist was able to very faithfully and accurately convey all the naturalness of the surrounding nature, using the glare of the moon, illuminating both the sandy path and the reeds dormant in the water. Subsequently, the artist uses these developments to paint a picture, which for a long time bore the mark of a mystic.

In conclusion, I would like to add that Ivan Kramskoy created portraits royal family. Members of the royal family highly valued Kramskoy's talent. He was commissioned to paint portraits of royalty and was trusted to give painting lessons to the emperor's daughters.


Portrait of the Emperor Alexandra III


Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, mother of Alexander III

The painting "Mermaids" was painted based on Nikolai Gogol's story "May Night or the Drowned Woman." The painting depicts drowned girls who, according to Slavic belief, became mermaids after their death.

Ivan Kramskoy, "Mermaids" (1871)

While working on the canvas, the artist set himself the task of conveying unique beauty moonlight. “I’m still trying to catch the moon now... The moon is a difficult thing...”- wrote Kramskoy.

Superstitious contemporaries feared that Gogol's plot would drive the artist crazy. In his painting in moonlight The world of ghosts comes to life. Guests of another world - mermaids appear before the viewer by the pond. Kramskoy managed to create a fantastic picture.

“I’m glad that I didn’t completely break my neck with such a plot, and if I didn’t catch the moon, then something fantastic still came out...”- noted the artist.

“The extreme verisimilitude of a fantastic dream,” critics wrote enthusiastically.

The public, tired of fashionable satirical realism, accepted Kramskoy’s work with interest.
“We are so tired of all these gray peasants, clumsy village women, worn-out officials... that the appearance of a work like “ May night“must make the most pleasant, refreshing impression on the public”

Soon the mysterious lunar picture had its own legends. They said that at the exhibition next to the “Mermaids” there was hanging a painting by Savrasov “Rooks”, which suddenly fell from the wall at night.

At night, in the hall of the Tretyakov gallery, which bought the painting, one could hear sad deathly singing, and one could feel a sudden coolness, like from a night pond. They said that young ladies who looked at the painting for a long time went crazy and threw themselves into the river.

The old maid advised the master to hang the picture in the far corner so that the light would not fall on it during the day. The old woman claimed that then the mermaids would stop frightening the living. Surprisingly, as soon as the picture was removed into the darkness, the afterlife singing stopped.

Well, a few more facts about rumors affecting paintings by Russian artists. Let's start with "Troika" by Vasily Perov.


Perov could not find a model for the central boy for a long time, until he met a woman who was traveling through Moscow on a pilgrimage with her 12-year-old son Vasya. The artist managed to persuade the woman to let Vasily pose for the picture. A few years later, Perov met with this woman again. It turned out that a year after painting Vasenka died, and his mother specially came to the artist to buy the painting with her last money. But the canvas had already been purchased and exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery. When the woman saw Troika, she fell to her knees and began to pray. Touched, the artist painted a portrait of her son for the woman.

The demon is defeated. Mikhail Vrubel


Vrubel's son, Savva, died suddenly shortly after the artist completed the portrait of the boy. The death of his son was a blow for Vrubel, so he concentrated on his last picture"Demon defeated." The desire to finish the painting grew into obsession. Vrubel continued to finish the painting even when it was sent to the exhibition. Not paying attention to the visitors, the artist came to the gallery, took out his brushes and continued to work. Concerned relatives contacted the doctor, but it was too late - tabes spinal cord brought Vrubel to the grave, despite treatment.

On the death of Alexander III. Ivan Aivazovsky When the artist learned about the death of Emperor Alexander III, he was shocked and painted the picture without any order. According to Aivazovsky, the painting was supposed to symbolize the triumph of life over death. But, having finished the painting, Aivazovsky hid it and did not show it to anyone. The painting was first put on public display only 100 years later. The painting is broken into fragments; the canvas depicts a cross, the Peter and Paul Fortress and the figure of a woman in black. The strange effect is that under certain angle the female figure turns into a laughing man. Some see this silhouette as Nicholas II, while others see Pakhom Andreyushkin, one of those terrorists who failed in the assassination attempt on the emperor in 1887.

The history of art is full of mystical secrets associated with certain paintings.
Many artists dragged behind them a trail of dubious fame that the sitters they painted in their paintings subsequently died. For example, many of Serov’s models died soon after posing sessions. The most mysterious was the death of the model depicted in famous painting"Girl with Peaches"
In just a month, she burned out from sudden onset consumption. only love Konstantina Somova, who posed for him for the painting “Lady in Blue.”
And although most artists tend to see in these examples only a series of fatal coincidences, many do not risk calling close people as sitters. Thus, just one sculpture by the famous Belarusian master Vladimir Zhbanov had real prototype- film producer Vladimir Golynsky. Trying to convey as accurately as possible portrait likeness, the sculptor removed the plaster mask from Golynsky’s face. And when the figure of the famous “Cigarette Lighter” was ready, its prototype was no longer alive...

An interesting story is connected with the painting “Maslenitsa”, which for a long time adorned the hall of the Ukraine Hotel. It hung and hung, no one really looked at it, until it suddenly became clear that the author of this work was a mentally ill person named Kuplin, who in his own way copied the painting by the artist Antonov. Actually, there is nothing particularly terrible or outstanding in the picture of a mentally ill person, but for six months it excited the vastness of the Runet. Antonov's painting:

1. There is no sign, and the professor deliberately “misdirected” the students so that they would not skip lectures.
2. The professor is a psycho himself (even facts were cited that he was actually treated abroad).
3. Kuplin associated himself with the snowman who looms in the background of the picture, and this is the main solution to the mystery.
4. There was no professor, and the whole story was a brilliant flash mob.
By the way, many original guesses for this sign were also given, but none of them was recognized as correct. The story gradually faded away, although even now you can sometimes come across echoes of it on the RuNet. As for the picture, for some it really makes an eerie impression and causes unpleasant sensations.

Here's another very interesting story.

Icon for psychics

The management of the Hermitage listened to the opinion of its employees and decided to remove the ancient icon depicting Christ from the exhibition. This step was dictated by the fact that the energy field of the icon was killing museum staff. According to Hermitage workers, prolonged exposure to the image of Christ has already caused the death of several employees.
Assumptions regarding the negative impact of the icon on the human body were made even during Soviet power, however, at that time it was simply impossible to declare this officially.
Nevertheless, the caretakers of the hall in which the masterpiece was exhibited ancient artist, for no apparent reason, died one after another. But as soon as their chairs were moved to other places, all the troubles stopped.

A specialist invited to study the impact of the icon on people conducted an examination and found that although, most likely, the icon was not directly responsible for bad feeling employees, but nevertheless spreads energy around itself that causes the human brain to vibrate at a high frequency, which, according to the expert, not every person can bear.
In this regard, it was suggested that the icon was painted by a powerful psychic and was originally intended for a select few with high extrasensory perception. And therefore ordinary people It's quite dangerous to see her all the time. Taking into account the specialist’s conclusion, the museum’s management decided to put the icon in storage and no longer put it on display.

Today I was sent a link to the work of one artist (in the process, who took great advantage of the methods of Salvador-our-Dali) artist.

For the sake of curiosity, I naturally went to look, despite the management, which was unfriendly to everyone playing the fool. The pictures evoke an unsettling feeling. Which is basically what the author intended. And my thoughts flowed in the direction of the mystical and mysterious (I love this topic, yeah). After all, many paintings (as, by the way, many musical works - I’m ready to write about this separately) evoke strange feelings or (even better) strange incidents with those who were depicted in them at an unkind hour, or bought/received them by accident/too much stared for a long time. Before starting research on this topic, I only knew about two paintings with an “evil” reputation, but once I dug around, I...

Painting by Claude Monet “Water Lilies”- one of the masterpieces of world culture. I wonder if the artist himself thought when he painted the picture that decades later it would be talked about so much. bad reputation? But the thing is that behind the picture there is a whole trail of fires. Moreover, the first happened at Monet’s own home, literally immediately after finishing work on the painting. The fire in the workshop where “Water Lilies” was located was quickly put out, and the painting itself was not damaged.
Soon the owners of an entertainment establishment in Montmartre became the owners of the painting, and a month later the owners were packing their bags, leaving the burnt cabaret building. By the way, the suitcase also contained the painting itself - one of several things that were taken out of the building engulfed in flames. After this, the painting was acquired by Oscar Schmitz, a philanthropist who lived in Paris. He was luckier than the previous owners - his house stood untouched whole year... A year later, only ashes remained from the house, and the fire, according to eyewitnesses, started in the very room where the Monet painting hung. By the way, the canvas was again among the few things that were saved. And again the painting moved to a new owner. This time not to the sole owner, but to a museum - the New York Museum of Modern Art. And the fire did not bypass it - it happened 4 months later, this time the canvas was quite seriously damaged.

Another canvas that constantly accompanies trouble is "Venus with a Mirror" by Diego Velazquez.

The painting's first owner, a Spanish merchant, went bankrupt, his trade deteriorating every day until most of his goods were captured by pirates at sea and several more ships sank. Selling everything he had by auction, the merchant also sold the painting. It was acquired by another Spaniard, also a merchant who owned rich warehouses in the port. The money for the canvas had barely been transferred when the merchant's warehouses caught fire from a sudden lightning strike. The owner was ruined. And again the auction, and again the painting is sold along with other things, and again a wealthy Spaniard buys it... Three days later he was stabbed to death in own home during a robbery. After that, the painting could not find its new owner for a long time, its reputation was too damaged, and the canvas traveled around different museums, until in one of them a mentally ill tourist with a knife rushed at the picture and ruined it.

The misfortunes that are associated with different paintings are completely different. For example, many owners of “The Adoration of the Magi” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder got rid of the painting, believing that it was associated with infertility in the family.

It is interesting that the artist’s cousin, with whom he painted this canvas, also suffered from infertility, which seemed to be transmitted through the painting to the families where it was kept. Children did not appear even where women had previously given birth without problems.

Known, of course, is the fame of the famous "La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci and: the painting supposedly has an incomprehensible effect on those who look at it for a long time.

This was noted by the 19th century writer Stendhal, who, after admiring the canvas for a long time, fainted. The caretakers of the Louvre note that such fainting spells are not uncommon; they happen to visitors quite often, especially in front of the portrait of the Mona Lisa. And da Vinci himself, according to the recollections of his loved ones, was as if obsessed with the painting, constantly trying to correct details, redraw, etc. And while working, he often experienced a breakdown and became depressed.

Mysterious events also happened to those who inadvertently “offended” famous painting Edvard Munch "The Scream".

The cost of this painting reaches 70 million dollars. And perhaps collectors would be immensely happy to have this painting in their possession. private collection:, if not for one thing: they say that the picture seems to be taking revenge on all its offenders.

For example, a museum employee who accidentally dropped a canvas then suffered from unbearable headaches for a long time, which ultimately led him to commit suicide. Another museum employee, who also dropped the painting, ended up in intensive care a few days later after a terrible car accident: almost everything was broken - his arms, legs, ribs, pelvic bones... One of the museum visitors who touched the painting was soon burned alive at home in fire time. Perhaps much of what is said about this painting is fiction, but there are dozens of stories about people who somehow came into contact with the painting, then became very ill, fell into severe depression and even died. Many people associate this impact of the canvas with the life of the artist himself. Munch survived the death of almost all his loved ones: his mother died of tuberculosis - Munch was 5 years old; his beloved sister died suddenly when he was 14; a brother soon died, and another sister fell ill with schizophrenia. The artist himself experienced depression and severe nervous breakdowns.

During Pushkin’s time, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina was one of the main “horror stories”. The girl lived a short and unhappy life, and after painting the portrait she died of consumption. Her father Ivan Lopukhin was a famous mystic and master Masonic lodge. That is why rumors spread that he had managed to lure the spirit of his deceased daughter into this portrait. And that if young girls look at the picture, they will soon die. According to the salon gossips, the portrait of Maria destroyed at least ten noblewomen of marriageable age...

The rumors were put to rest by the philanthropist Tretyakov, who in 1880 bought the portrait for his gallery. There was no significant mortality among female visitors. The conversations died down. But the sediment remained!

Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted “The Adoration of the Magi” over two years. He “copied” the Virgin Mary from his cousin. She was a barren woman, for which she received constant blows from her husband. It was she who, as simple medieval Dutch gossiped, “infected” the picture. “The Magi” was bought by private collectors four times. And each time the same story was repeated: no children were born in a family for 10-12 years...
Finally, in 1637, the architect Jacob van Kampen bought the painting. By that time he already had three children, so the curse did not particularly frighten him.

Probably the most famous bad picture on the Internet with the following story: A certain schoolgirl (Japanese is often mentioned) drew this picture. If you look at her for 5 minutes in a row, the girl will change (her eyes turn red, her hair turns black, fangs appear).
In fact, it is clear that the picture was clearly not drawn by hand, as many people like to claim. Although no one gives clear answers to how this picture appeared.

Now it hangs modestly without a frame in one of the Vinnitsa stores. “Rain Woman” is the most expensive of all works: it costs $500. According to the sellers, the painting has already been bought three times and then returned. Clients explain that they dream about her. And someone even says that they know this lady, but they don’t remember where. And everyone who has ever looked into her white eyes will forever remember the feeling of a rainy day, silence, anxiety and fear.
Where did it come from? unusual picture, said its author, Vinnytsia artist Svetlana Telets. “In 1996, I graduated from Odessa Art University. Grekova,” recalls Svetlana. “And six months before the birth of “Woman,” it always seemed to me that someone was constantly watching me. I drove such thoughts away from myself, and then one day, by the way, not at all rainy, I sat in front of a blank canvas and thought about what to draw. And suddenly I clearly saw the contours of a woman, her face, colors, shades. In an instant I noticed all the details of the image. I wrote the main part quickly - I finished it in about five hours. It seemed as if someone was guiding my hand. And then I finished painting for another month.”
Arriving in Vinnitsa, Svetlana exhibited the painting in a local art salon. Art connoisseurs came up to her every now and then and shared the same thoughts that she herself had during her work.
“It was interesting to observe,” says the artist, “how subtly a thing can materialize a thought and inspire it in other people.”
A few years ago the first customer appeared. A lonely businesswoman walked around the halls for a long time, looking closely. Having bought “Woman”, I hung it in my bedroom.
Two weeks later, a night call rang in Svetlana’s apartment: “Please pick her up. I can not sleep. It seems that there is someone in the apartment besides me. I even took it off the wall and hid it behind the closet, but I still can’t do it.”
Then a second buyer appeared. Then a young man bought the painting. And I also couldn’t stand it for long. He brought it to the artist himself. And he didn’t even take the money back.

About the rest - including my “favorites” - next time.