The hidden “madman” message of “The Scream” dates back to Munch himself.

In the upper left corner of Edvard Munch’s picture The Scream, in small faint letters, is a mysterious inscription that says, “Only the madman should have drawn it!”
Experts have long discussed the identity of reporters. Some suggest that the dissatisfied destroyer is the author, while others point their fingers at the Norwegian painter himself. Now, a new analysis has found that mysterious phrases are almost certainly inscribed in Munch’s handwriting.
The faint inscription written in pencil is visible to the naked eye, but it is not very clear. “It was very difficult to interpret,” said Thierry Ford, a painting restorer at the Norwegian National Museum. Said in a statement.. “Through a microscope, you can see the pencil lines physically on top of the paint and painted after the paint is finished.” But when and why it wasn’t clear.
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This version of “Cry” was one of four versions drawn by the artist, but only one has such an inscription. According to the New York Times..
This inscription was first mentioned by Danish art critics when the painting was exhibited in Copenhagen in 1904, about 11 years after Munch painted it. According to the statement, critics at the time believed that the general public wrote the message.
To understand the mystery, the Norwegian National Museum curator May-Britt Moser and his team took infrared photographs of the painting.Scan carbon Much clearer from the pencil mark. Researchers compared the inscriptions with the handwriting of Munk’s diary and letters, and analyzed the details of the first paintings shown in Norway.
“This sentence is definitely Munch’s own,” Glenn said. Said in another statement.. “The handwriting itself and what happened in 1895, when Munch first painted in Norway, all point in the same direction.”
Researchers assume that Munch wrote this phrase after the first domestic exhibition of paintings at the Bromkuvist Gallery in Norway in 1893 (he had previously exhibited several paintings abroad). ). According to a statement, the exhibition in Norway has received a lot of criticism, and one art critic, Henrik Grosch, said the painting “should not consider a serious man with a normal brain as Munch.” I write that it is proof.
At the time, the Christianian Student Association held a discussion event about his paintings, with some expressing a positive view of his art, while others, such as medical student Johann Scharfenberg. I questioned Munch’s mental state. According to the statement, Munch was probably there and took note of those comments as he covered the event several times in letters and diary entries over the next few decades.
Munch was also generally very worried about hereditary illnesses, as multiple members of his family were suffering from mental illness.
“The theory is that Munch wrote this sometime after 1895 after hearing Scharfenberg’s judgment on his mental health. During or shortly after the exhibition in Christiania, he It’s reasonable to think that you did that. “” The inscription can be read as an ironic comment, but it’s also an expression of the artist’s vulnerability. “
The painting will be exhibited at the new Norwegian National Gallery when it opens in Oslo in 2022.
Originally published in Live Science.
The hidden “madman” message of “The Scream” dates back to Munch himself.
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