UFO in the Clouds from a Painting in the Year 1450

My apologies to any of you who have seen this before, but this piece of art totally intrigues me, especially due more to the age of the painting.

I visited the National Gallery in London a few years ago and I came across this painting (below) by Piero Della Francesca, and I stood on the spot totally mesmerised by what was being portrayed in the art work. Even though I was in the gallery for quite a while I stupidly forgot to write down what the painting was called and who it was painted by.

I have only just recently found out that the painting is titled, The Baptism of Jesus, by Piero Della Francesca and is dated 1450.

All I could remember about the painting was the clouds in the sky that appeared to be what we call today a UFO kind of shape. One of the UFO shaped clouds also seems to be reflected in the water by the feet of Jesus. There is a bird which I presume is a Dove, above the head of Jesus, but the Dove appears to be more like an aircraft (Concorde) from a front on position and very streamlined. Behind Jesus and John the Baptist, on the right hand side is a man removing his clothing which he seems to be having trouble removing from his head. I can understand a person getting undressed, but why go to all that trouble to paint a picture but show a person in that kind of pose? I find that to be rather strange.

I just wondered what other ATS members thought of this painting, thought it quite interesting indeed...

I just wanted to add that I am not a religious person in any kind of way..........

I have also added a couple of other links for more information regarding this painting by Piero Della Francesca...

Look forward to any remarks/replies/ideas............



www.independent.co.uk...

en.wikipedia.org...(Piero_della_Francesca)

futuremodern.blogspot.co.uk...

Lenticular clouds. A rendition of.

??

reply to post by davethebear


Im with mainidh on this one: Lenticular cloud formations.
They're pretty, yes, and even a little unusual looking, but, not ET.

Looks like there's a man pointing up at the sky in the far right background right under the man removing his shirt.

Also looks like some kind of high priest next to him in the back

reply to post by davethebear


I see lenticular clouds, I don't see UFOs.

I see Jesus's right nipple, I don't see a breast/nipple on the woman standing in the middle of three women.

Originally posted by Druscilla
reply to post by davethebear

 

Im with mainidh on this one: Lenticular cloud formations.
They're pretty, yes, and even a little unusual looking, but, not ET.

Yeah, the Lenticular cloud formations are a brilliant sight to see, but weird how they were painted into a piece of work that was intended to portray the baptism of Christ. Do you think that the artist was trying to say something by painting this type of cloud formation, or just coincidence?

hi op

is that an angel?
lady on the far left looks like she has wings

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011
reply to post by davethebear

 

I see lenticular clouds, I don't see UFOs.

I see Jesus's right nipple, I don't see a breast/nipple on the woman standing in the middle of three women.

Yeah, that's a good point about the woman/man not having a breast/nipple on the left hand side. It's a part of the body that you wouldn't really miss out as an artist, or maybe there is a reason for that. Maybe the person without the breast/nipple was not of human form, especially as he/she is standing next to what appears to be an angel....

Originally posted by davesmart
hi op

is that an angel?
lady on the far left looks like she has wings

That could also be a different fashion cloth on her back, not necessarily a wing. You can still see the nape of the neck as looking 'normal'.

Originally posted by ElOmen
Looks like there's a man pointing up at the sky in the far right background right under the man removing his shirt.

Also looks like some kind of high priest next to him in the back

Yeah, that's also quite weird, especially as there are always clouds in the sky, maybe not always that type and shape. But you would think he would be more interested in the actual baptism........

Originally posted by davesmart
hi op

is that an angel?
lady on the far left looks like she has wings

Yeah, the angel person seems to have red, brown and bluish/grey coloured wings, next to a person with no breast/nipple......Mmmmmmmmmmm

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011

Originally posted by davesmart
hi op

is that an angel?
lady on the far left looks like she has wings

That could also be a different fashion cloth on her back, not necessarily a wing. You can still see the nape of the neck as looking 'normal'.

Mmmm, the object that appears to be a wing seems rather flat and not quite sure whether it is attached to the woman or not.............

Here is all the evidence we need to make a some sense about this picture:



Evidence 1 - Notice the club foot on the lady to the left...that is not a normal foot, could this be alien? Or a deformation? Or just ONLY A ONE BIG FOOT?

Evidence 2 - Notice the 2 UFO like objects...one appears to be a mix of cloud and saucer, the other looks like cloud. So lenticular cloud saucer

Evidence 3 - Woman on the right of the three looks to have reptilian eyes. Or did the artist slip with his/her paint brush? Or just another pixel added?

That said, all people depicted in this painting have all five toes on each foot and presumably all 5 fingers on each hand.

I bet that someone painted over the original version to cover the woman's breast/nipple for modesty reasons, later. I do think that it's odd that the lenticular clouds were portrayed. Seems that even back then people assumed there was something mystical and mysterious about them.

Originally posted by davethebear

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011

Originally posted by davesmart
hi op

is that an angel?
lady on the far left looks like she has wings

That could also be a different fashion cloth on her back, not necessarily a wing. You can still see the nape of the neck as looking 'normal'.

Mmmm, the object that appears to be a wing seems rather flat and not quite sure whether it is attached to the woman or not.............

Kind of like a cut & paste effect. Doesn't look it would be attached.

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011
Here is all the evidence we need to make a some sense about this picture:

Evidence 1 - Notice the club foot on the lady to the left...that is not a normal foot, could this be alien? Or a deformation? Or just ONLY A ONE BIG FOOT?

Evidence 2 - Notice the 2 UFO like objects...one appears to be a mix of cloud and saucer, the other looks like cloud. So lenticular cloud saucer

Evidence 3 - Woman on the right of the three looks to have reptilian eyes. Or did the artist slip with his/her paint brush? Or just another pixel added?




That said, all people depicted in this painting have all five toes on each foot and presumably all 5 fingers on each hand.

edit on 28-7-2012 by Skywatcher2011 because: added note

Cheers Skywatcher2011,

I hadn't noticed the club foot before.......thanks for your keen eye and ideas behind this painting.....interesting...

It is an interesting piece of art. Looks like clouds to me... Maybe UFO's with a cloud covering? Thanks for sharing! Raises a few questions.