Secret messages in famous paintings: what the artists encrypted

Great artists often left mysterious symbols, hidden messages and secret signs in their works. Some of them were deciphered only centuries later, while others continue to intrigue researchers to this day.


1. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci: Musical Notation

In 2007, Italian musician Giovanni Maria Pala discovered that if you put the position of the bread and hands of the apostles on the music camp, you get a 40-second mourning melody. Leonardo, as a musician, could have deliberately encrypted the composition.
Hidden meaning: The melody, read from right to left (as da Vinci himself wrote), creates a solemn requiem.


2. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Anatomical Code


In the creation scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo hid accurate anatomical images of the human brain and internal organs. This discovery was made by modern neuroanatomists, having studied the frescoes in detail.

3. The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer: Optical Secrets

The researchers found that Vermeer used a camera obscura to create his work. The film “Girl with a Pearl Earring” hides optical effects that can only be obtained using this device.

4. “Garden of Earthly Delights” by Bosch: musical notes on the body of a sinner


On one of the figures in the right part of the triptych there are musical notes. When they were deciphered, they created a medieval melody called “The Song of Hell.”

5. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa: Hidden Numbers and Letters

In 2010, scientists discovered microscopic letters and numbers hidden in the eyes of the Mona Lisa. In the right eye you can see the letters LV (possibly the initials of the artist), and in the left - other symbols, the meaning of which is still debated.

6. Van Gogh's Self-Portrait: Hidden Symbols of Disease


Modern researchers have found visual evidence of Van Gogh’s disease in his self-portraits. The artist deliberately used certain color combinations and strokes reflecting his condition.

* All the details and findings are confirmed by art studies and modern methods of analysis.