THE VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ST. ANNE AND THE YOUNG ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST National Gallery London. Leonardo da Vinci circa 1501. Charcoal and touches of white on paper.
How this has gone unnoticed for over 500 years is totally beyond me! Perhaps we have a tendency to see only what we're told to see? We read the title of the drawing and our mind finds the coordinating images and simply stops...looking? Seeing? What if we were to view this drawing with no knowledge as to what or who is in the drawing? Would we see the same thing, two women, an infant and young child and nothing more? Do you see anything else? A snake of two? A penguin? As I mentioned in a previous article, there is something about a laptop's screen that seems to deliver the very best HOLOGRAM effect! If you're viewing from a computer monitor, I encourage viewing images from different angles, distances, etc. For larger views right click on images.
REMINDER: Laptop computers are great for experiencing the full "Hologram Effect." Not only is there a big difference in the images, but you can move your screen from side to side, up and down just as you would an actual HOLOGRAM!
Cropped with lighting enhanced. Distinct images begin to appear: snakes, a lizard, a penguin.
Give this one some time! The images form and fade and form into another image, then another and another! There are more images in this one cropped section than I can keep track of! 
At least 12 to 15! Seriously!
Here are a few outlined for you.
Lizard with mouth opened.
A smiling reptile?
Why would Leonardo incorporate such images into a drawing of the Virgin Mary and St. Anne...? I have no idea! All I know is what I see and I'm seeing an array of reptiles all over this drawing.
Another cropped section, rotated with color removed.
With each and very adjustment more images emerge! And there doesn't seem to be an end to the number of vast layers, because just about the time your mind gets accustom to seeing one reptile forming into another, you suddenly realize or recognize the shape of a number or letter and stepping back, looking at the drawing once again...you realize you've uncovered yet another layer only of an entirely different scene! Check archives: February 9th. for another view of this drawing.
Click on images for larger views.
Cropped with lighting enhanced.
Alligator.
Cropped with color enhanced. Are you seeing them?
More cropped sections:
Images of reptiles seem to cover every inch of this sketch.
RIGHT CLICK IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW.
Are you seeing them?
There's more than one reptile in these cropped sections.
Cropped section, seen up close reveals more images of reptiles.
With every single adjustment, more and more reptiles emerge. I've sat in total amazement at what all is hidden within this sketch thinking, how Leonardo did you do this? Why did you do this? And, thank you regardless of how or why, for letting me glimpse the simplicity of your genius.
More cropped sections, more reptiles.
You should see several images of snakes in this section, if you'll just keep staring intently.
Allow your eyes a moment to adjust and slowly this amazing illusion reveals more and more images of snakes.
Color and lighting enhancements may help you to see these hidden images faster and easier.
Color removed.
Negative view.
In a previous blog I explained a basic theory as to how da Vinci was able to create a HOLOGRAM effect within his paintings, using only paint and tinted varnishes. Creating the effect on paper is a bit more intriguing, not to mention a bit more difficult to even comprehend, at first! As an artist, I found myself simply thinking, how would I go about achieving such an effect? I'm no genius, so I seriously doubt my theories are even remotely close to reality, but I can easily grasp the feasibility of a man name Leonardo da Vinci easily pulling this off!! First layer, he could have used nothing but water to form an image in "water stain", then using varying amounts of color pigment began layering images. After many different layers he could have sun dried the paper allowing the colors to fade till they were barely even noticeable. Then with an untold number of layers accomplished in that manner, he could have begun new layers using a variety of charcoals, chalk (chalk is easy to make with plaster and color pigment, paint, etc.) creating layer upon layer of images.
Reading his many studies and then finding the exact effect or illusion hidden within his paintings and drawings is an experience I'll long cherish. If you spend any time at all scanning his work books, studies, etc., you find yourself wondering why he studied such things as the folds of drapery.
STUDY OF DRAPERY: Leonardo da Vinci
Shown in negative. From any angle the images of faces numbers and letters begin to emerge.
Reversed, upside down image with lighting enhancements.
Same image, different angle. Spend 5 minutes looking at one of his drapery sketches playing with lighting effects and the hidden images are consistently everywhere.
I encourage viewers to avoid reading my captions about what I see, until you have a fair chance to decide on your own if you see something else in the images I'm posting and sharing with. If our minds have a tendency to see what it's told to see, I prefer NOT TO INFLUENCE! You may see nothing new, something totally different or some or all that I see. I'm personally most interested in viewers new input. That being said, following are more specific, cropped, close up images.
Close up view. Notice the image of an orange snake between the two faces and the image of the head of a green snake over the eye of St. Anne on the right.
I've used a black out effect to point out the two images of snakes. For larger views click on image. Do you see the heads of two snakes?
From a different cropped image I found at: http://www.leonardo/paintings_eng.htm
A closer look reveals the images of a partial head of an orange snake on the left and the head of a green snake on the right with it's mouth slightly opened.
Image of two snakes outlined. Click on images for larger views.
Cropped from between the two women with a white out effect. Do you see the partial head of an orange snake? It's head is pointing down.
Cropped from the eye area of the woman on the right with a white out effect. Do you see the head of a green snake with it's mouth opened. Do we really see things that differently? Or, are our minds so "brain washed" that we've lost the ability to see what's right in front of us? And I continuously wonder if Leonardo is just having fun with his own creative genius or is there a message, a meaning, to all this we've yet to grasp?
Republished from archives. Original publishing date 12/09/06.
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