Photo from the National Museum of Norway
Norweigian artist Edvard Munch’s 1893 artwork “The Scream” has been among the most recognizable modern masterpieces in the world. Depicting a melancholic image of a wailing ghost-like character and “a blood red” sky, the painting is seen by many as a symbolism of anxiety and mental health.
But on the surface of the unnerving painting lies a dark mystery that has baffled art historians for years. On the top left-hand of the painting is a message written in pencil that reads, “Can only have been painted by a madman.”
The cryptic message has been a subject of discussion for over 117 years. Others think it was a bad review written by someone to vandalize the artwork. While some say it was the artist himself who etched the words. New discoveries by the curators at the National Museum of Norway state that the author of the message was, indeed, Munch.
Final secret of Edvard Munchâs âThe Screamâ revealed
A barely legible phrase scribbled on a modern masterpiece gives new insight into the private thoughts of one of the worldâs great painters.
Researchers in Norway used infrared photography to analyse the mysterious words scrawled on Edvard Munchâs âThe Screamâ. Â
Annar Bjorgli/The National Museum
Nina Siegal
Save
Share
Edvard Munchâs
The Scream, from 1893, is one of the worldâs most famous paintings, but for years art historians have mostly ignored a tiny inscription, written in pencil, at the upper left corner of its frame, reading: âCould only have been painted by a madmanâ.
Le mystère de l'inscription sur le Cri d'Edvard Munch résolu sputniknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sputniknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Edvard Munch's The Scream, one of the most well-known artworks in the world, includes a long-held mystery in a faint written message in the top-left corner of the painting. The tiny inscription "Can only have been painted by a madman," once considered a vandal's scrawl, has been determined to be by the artist's own hand. New research and infrared technology conducted by the National Museum of Norway has concluded that Munch wrote the phrase himself. The rarely-exhibited work, .