Photographing a self-portrait in a French museum, an expert discovers a secret that has been hidden for 160 years

Injured man

Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877) was a famous French painter, a pioneer of realism. He was born in the south of France and moved to Paris with a new aesthetic point of view. With Courbet "Painting is basically a specific art and painting must be used to represent things that are real and currently exist".

The name of Gustave Courbet is associated with daring works, most notably the painting "The Origin of Mankind" depicting a nude woman clearly showing the image of female genitals on display at the museum. Orsay, Paris, France.

Portrait of painter Gustave Courbet.

Also on display at this museum is the work "The Wounded man" (roughly translated: Wounded man) - an outstanding work of artist Courbet. The oil painting is 97.5 cm long and 81.5 cm wide, is a self-portrait of the French artist himself.

The man in the painting had a European-style handsome and romantic figure leaning against a tree and closing his eyes, as if he was just resting for a bit but his chest was covered in blood. On the left was a sword and in fact he was in a fierce battle.

The painting "The Wounded Man" by Gustave Courbet.

He was seriously injured so he could not move, could only lie still under a tree. The situation of the picture is "rain of bombs and bullets", but viewers find it strangely peaceful, some even say that the man in the picture looks like an angel!

The picture is skillfully painted in oil with somewhat gloomy colors but exudes a mysterious and magical look. This has stimulated the curiosity of later viewers, especially experts in painting.

And then when studying this painting by artist Gustave Courbet, experts took X-rays and discovered another version hidden under the "cover" that is so familiar to visitors at the museum. Orsay. It turns out that the mind behind "The Wounded Man" has been hidden by the artist for more than 160 years.

Gustave Courbet's Secret

The painting "The Wounded Man" that everyone has always seen has been modified by the French artist compared to the first version. In fact, from the enlarged picture after X-ray, we can see this handsome man holding a beautiful girl with a smile on his lips, the two must be deeply in love. passionate love. 

The question of experts is why did the artist delete this woman's image?

Detail of a woman lying on a man's lap during an X-ray.

Those who love Gustave Courbet's paintings must have seen this girl many times appearing in his other paintings with a graceful and graceful figure.

Based on the records of this famous French painter's life, everyone will see that he was passionately in love with a woman, and their sweet love was all inspired by the famous artist. is the picture "The happy lovers" (roughly translated as Happy people in love).

Another painting called "The happy lovers" by Gustave Courbet.

So the reason why he deleted the image of a woman so that only a lonely man was injured in the picture was probably the breakup of a sweet love story. Is the wound on the man's chest not only due to the war but also a metaphor for the painter's heartache?

Of course, this reason is just speculation by experts because no one can be sure about this relationship! But the detail of a woman in a man's arms in a famous painting by artist Gustave Courbet is definitely an extremely interesting discovery for viewers.