Why are there UFOs in many Renaissance paintings?

Originally published at: Why are there UFOs in many Renaissance paintings? | Boing Boing

4 Likes

That’s not a UFO; that’s an early appearance by the “clickbait circle and arrow”.

xj39i58e3lx41

27 Likes

Is this post a joke? I really can’t tell.

7 Likes

Are you sure it’s not a Jewish space laser?

19 Likes

This one weird trick will cause you to be impregnated by a diety!

18 Likes

Hey, they’re not “UFOs” - the artists knew exactly what they were painting!

It’s a nice parody of the flying saucer enthusiast logic, anyways - presenting everything backwards. (Next I’d like to see someone catalog all the paintings where someone bungled a depiction of an elephant or crocodile, and use that as evidence for “cryptids.”)

20 Likes

No Renaissance Sasquatches though?

Sorry, not interested.

10 Likes

Beef Jerky Idk GIF by Jack Link's Jerky

12 Likes

images

30 Likes

Well, I used to be skeptical of alien life visiting us, but no more! This proves it! Those are clearly proof of extraterrestrial visitors and not standard imagery depicting divine intervention, along with a lot of badly drawn clouds.

/s (not that you need it, I hope)

11 Likes

Today there all millions and millions of cameras on phones, poles, in cars, pointing out windows… and no one has captured a single indisputable image that makes you question everything.

But 700 years ago… UFO’s were cluttering the sky so much that painters had no choice but to include them.

Ok.

17 Likes

Yeah, it’s so strange that no matter how good our imaging capability becomes over time, the aliens are always at the extreme, barely-resolvable limit of that capability. I wonder why? /s

14 Likes

HolePunchCloud

16 Likes

Only way they can be swallowed by a dog?

screen-shot-2013-01-19-at-01-18-19

15 Likes

It has something to do with the origins of Albion.

6 Likes

Technically that qualifies as “modern art” though.

5 Likes

Why are there UFOs in many Renaissance paintings?

The paintings are time travelers.

9 Likes

Did anyone else think of Nope for that third example painting?
th

5 Likes

i need to know more about that last painting.

3 Likes

Honestly this gives some fascinating historical context to the appearance of the otherwise archetyoically modern idea and imagery of UFOs. Would love to see if anyone (perhaps an art historian or historian of folk tales?) has ever looked into this further.

1 Like