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Scientific American
The Scream Holds a Hidden Message
Open speculation about his mental health plagued the artist Edvard Munch. In his most famous work, he left a biting commentary
The Scream was determined to have been written by the artist himself. Credit: Børre Høstland
“
Kan kun være malet af en gal Mand!” (“Can only have been painted by a madman!”) appears on Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s most famous painting
The inscription has always been visible to the naked eye, but the infrared images helped to more clearly distinguish the writing from its background. Comparing it with the artist’s handwriting then clearly proved Munch’s authorship.
February 22, 2021 GMT
FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019 file photo, people look at The Scream at the National Gallery in Oslo. A Norwegian museum says a small, barely visible sentence written on Edvard Munch’s 1893 masterpiece “The Scream” was penned by the Norwegian painter himself. The sentence referring to the artwork being made by a madman was scribbled in a corner. A curator at the new National Museum of Norway said Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 the inscription was likely made in 1895, when Munch exhibited the painting for the first time and was met with questions about his mental health. (Heiko Junge/NTB Scanpix via AP, file)
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.
A mysterious inscription on Edvard Munch s famed painting The Scream has baffled the art world for years, but Norwegian experts have now concluded it was written by none other than the artist himself.