You're looking at a 463 year old painting...
That contains 126 hidden messages (that we've been able to count...)
This painting is "The Topsy Turvy World" by Bruegel
And it has the earliest illustration of the *Blue Pill*
Discover this painting's top ten hidden insights ππ»
1/ "She puts the blue cloak on her husband"
Bruegel's original name for his painting: The Blue Cloak
In the center a woman puts a blue cloak on her husband - a Danish proverb meaning to deceive someone
The Matrix made the Blue Cloak the Blue Pill - the meaning remains the same
2/ "To be able to tie even the devil to a pillow"
This proverb means: Stubbornness
Sheer obstinacy
The tendency to keep throwing punches
If you turn up enough times, learn enough lessons, and iterate for long-enough
You can tie even the devil to a pillow
3/ "Never believe someone who carries fire in one hand and water in the other"
How much of the modern economy is captured in this proverb?
Fast food creates billions in GDP
Erodes people's health
Then "Healthcare" comes in
More billions in GDP
Rinse and Repeat
4/ "To not care whose house is on fire as long as one can warm oneself at the blaze"
No matter the era, you can always find characters whose minds and souls are hijacked by this brand of short-termism
A "me-ism" that doesn't see one can't remain standing if the ecosystem falls
5/ "To be a hen feeler"
We see a villager feeling a hen to see if she's going to lay an egg
Before slaughtering her
This proverb mocks those who are miserly - and hyper-sensitive to all minor losses
People obsessed with optimization even when it provides no meaningful gain
6/ "To marry under the broomstick"
This proverb chides people who live together without sanctifying their bond before God
More broadly, this proverb suggests that everything important must be impressed upon with a divine seal
Let the higher power bless your endeavors
7/ "One foot shod, the other bare"
Nature abhors imbalance
Failure - when its not the result of sloth or monumental bad luck - is often the result of ignoring *the other half* of the equation
A product without marketing
Marketing without product
One foot shod, the other...
8/ "To cast roses before swine"
You can't make a man understand something that his job requires him to misunderstand
The highest of truths, like the highest of peaks, aren't for all but for the select few ready to make a painful climb
Cast not roses before swine
9/ "The world is turned upside down"
A feeling that has haunted the hearts of the observant in many eras:
Things are the opposite of what they should be
The moral order has been inverted
And the only way back is a vertigo inducing counter-revolution
10/ Two related messages:
"To hold a candle to the Devil" - to be friendly with everyone without exercising any judgement
"To confess to the Devil" - to reveal your heart's secrets to the enemy
The sin of our age is over-inclusion and tearing down the much needed borders
Artists throughout history - including writers - have left hidden messages in their work
Leo Strauss explores this phenomena in his essay: "Persecution and the Art of Writing"
How smart writers speak inconvenient truths without losing their necksππ»
memod.com/jashdholani/why-authors-write-between-the-lines-3323/part-1
Here's another fascinating painting: The Choice Of Hercules (1596)
It shows the timeless conflict between comfort and greatness
Here's my 2 minute breakdown of its meaning: memod.com/jashdholani/would-you-rather-be-great-or-happy-5529/part-1
Thank you for reading!
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