THE COMMENTS were convinced they had identified a hidden image in a piece of rustic art that a woman bought at a thrift store.
Many believe there’s a skull camouflaged in this grim green image of a bird flying around a tree-lined swamp, but others can’t see it.
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The original Home of the Heron skull artwork is harder to see than the print posted on Facebook Credit: Getty
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It is not unusual in art for images to be hidden within the scene they represent.
The creepy undercover image was first seen when a buyer posted it on a Facebook page to appraise the piece, Yahoo! News reported.
“See the skull?” asked a commenter.
“Yeah, I can’t undo it now,” said another.
But others have found different images hidden in the ominous image.
“I see a ghost around the birdie,” said one commenter.
“I see a kitten,” said another.
But many commentators agreed that there was something deeply morbid about the artwork.
“It looks like an image that would be on The Ring,” said another Facebook user.
For those who struggle to spot the unusual imagery hidden within the painting, you should take a look at the left hand side of the artwork.
When the artwork was posted to Facebook, a print of the original was slightly recolored, making the skull visible to some for the first time.
One commentator correctly identified the painting as a copy of The Heron Home of George Inness, which belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago.
He created the work towards the end of his fruitful career in 1893.
“The painting is characteristic of his late work, with loose details and blurry objects that seem bathed in an almost incandescent glow,” reads the museum’s description of the work.
It is based on a swamp that Inness found in Florida.
“The painting’s blurred contours, extensive elaboration and delicate, subtle tonalities, as well as the solitary presence of the heron, masterfully evoke the peace and mystery of nature.”
Hidden images such as the alleged skull in Inness’s painting are known as “pareidolia”.
People often find human faces on inanimate objects like trees or houses.
Some of the most famous examples of pareidolia made headlines when images of Jesus Christ and other religious figures were seen on toasts.
In 2004, a woman sold a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich with an alleged image of the Virgin Mary for $28,000, NBC News reported.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education