
Dead grasshopper discovered in van Gogh painting - brudgers
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/08/dead-grasshopper-discovered-in-vincent-van-gogh-painting
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thefalcon
"Van Gogh used a type of red pigment that gradually faded over time. That
suggests the painting looks slightly different today than when it was
completed."

There's something kind of cool about older art changing over time and the
process of trying to determine what it might have originally looked like.
Reminds me of Philip Mould's work removing a yellowed varnish to uncover a
painting (more) as it would have looked 500 years ago:
[https://twitter.com/philipmould](https://twitter.com/philipmould)

~~~
MCompeau
The way art transforms over time is fascinating and can completely alter our
perception of entire classes of art and culture. Check out ancient Roman and
Greek statuary and architecture:

[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/true-
colors-1788...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/true-
colors-17888/)

~~~
Camillo
The Greeks and the Romans prized realism in art above all else. We know this
from literature (e.g. the story of Zeuxis and Parrhasius), from surviving
paintings (frescoes, portraits, etc.) which show skillful and realistic use of
color, and from the shape of the sculptures themselves. They painted their
statues because reality is colorful, yes. But they painted them realistically.

The notion that they painted statues with flat, unrealistic colors, without
using all the realistic painting skills we know they had, is absurd. It goes
against everything we know (from primary sources, not as modern opinions)
about classical art, and it is simply not reasonable to believe.

Brinkmann paints reconstructions in the most garish and unrealistic way
possible because controversy draws attention, and magazines repeat his claims
uncritically for the same reason.

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leggomylibro
Huh, I thought this was going to be about how old dyes sometimes used insects
as a base, like Carmine.

Nope, it is about a dead grasshopper. In a Van Gogh painting.

([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine))

~~~
bananicorn
Did you know Carmine is still in use as food coloring (E120)? The thought of
having ground up bugs in my food is a little offputting, honestly...

And hey, at least you can't accuse them of clickbait-ism ;)

~~~
Double_a_92
I heard it's just used in some traditional kind of liquor to color it red.

I guess it would be too expensive to actually use for mass produced goods. Why
collects and kill those bugs, when you can just use other red dyes?

~~~
anakha
It's used in the Italian liqueur Alchermes, which is commonly used in
pastries, notably Zuppa Inglese.

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WheelsAtLarge
The real surprise would be if they found it alive.

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venturis_voice
I thought this was going to be about some crushed insects used to make dyes,
for the art inclined almost a click bait title ha. I've pulled another
Guardian article which is about crushed bugs and cow urine used for paintings.

[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/jun/13...](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2017/jun/13/from-
crushed-bugs-to-cow-urine-the-history-of-colours-in-pictures)

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sdfjkl
Small insects landing on fresh paint is rather annoying when you're painting
stuff. Nice to see someone getting excited about it ;-)

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hyperpallium
Reminds me of _Bug-Getter_ by​ R. Bretonor (a short short science fiction
story)

~~~
RodgerTheGreat
Link for convenience:
[http://www.bretnor.com/BugGetter.html](http://www.bretnor.com/BugGetter.html)

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Kiro
Why don't they mark where the grasshopper is on the big image?

~~~
dmichulke
Post it on Facebook with the text

"Einstein said 99% of all people cannot find the grasshopper in this picture.
Can you?" ;-)

~~~
venturis_voice
OMG wen u see it!

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dang
Url changed from [https://pictorial.jezebel.com/found-a-dead-bug-in-a-van-
gogh...](https://pictorial.jezebel.com/found-a-dead-bug-in-a-van-gogh-
painting-1820262590), which points to this.

