arts
Published 22nd February 2021
'Painted by a madman': Edvard Munch wrote a hidden message on 'The Scream'
A tiny message hidden in Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" was written by the artist himself, a new investigation of the work has found, finally resolving one of modern art's most enduring mysteries.
The message "Can only have been painted by a madman," scrawled and barely visible in the top left-hand corner of the painting, has been the subject of debate for decades and was widely believed to have been an act of vandalism by a viewer of the piece.
The painting being hung at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015. It has rarely been exhibited in recent years due to damage. Credit: BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/AFP/Getty Images