10 Hidden Details You Never Noticed In Famous Paintings
6. Pious Man And The Devil - The Old Fisherman (Tivadar Csontvary Kosztka)
Tivadar Csontvary Kosztka, thought to have been an undiagnosed schizophrenic, was working as a pharmacist in Hungary in 1880 when he received a message from God telling him to quit his job and become an artist because he would surpass all previous artists including his (Tivadar's not God's) hero Raphael. He did 10 years later, so at least God was patient.
His most recognised work is the 1902 piece The Old Fisherman which is a painting of... an old fisherman. The man's face is somewhat jarring and unsymmetrical, and you could make a claim that this is due to the fisherman just being butt ugly, unless of course you have a mirror and then the unevenness starts to make sense.
Holding a two sided mirror to the centre of the painting grants the viewer with two different subjects, on one side a pious looking man praying the background nice, light and gentle almost symbolising the good of man. On the other side however is the devil, or at least someone that could be confused with the devil.
It's easy to miss as most of us don't walk into a museum with a mirror unless we want to find the security lasers.