Et in Arcadia Ego - Poussin's painting

[AlainD]

There have been all kinds interpretation of the painting, including measurements and angles of everything but I haven't yet read about one thing that stands out to me. Maybe someone else has seen this or it has been mentioned, I don't know.

The problem for me is the kneeling shepherd pointing with his finger, his chest is almost touching his knee. The shadow on the other hand is of someone on his/her knees and holding hands up as if in prayer or offering. It is definitely not the shepherds shadow!

What do the other readers think?

 

[lainey]

Was it not in one of Laura's books that when you turned the picture upside down, the shadow looked like a horse? Can't remember where I read it though.

 

[Palinurus]

Was it not in one of Laura's books that when you turned the picture upside down, the shadow looked like a horse? Can't remember where I read it though.

You're quite right, lainey. It's in Chapter 31 of The Wave almost at the bottom of the page:

Now, this final close-up is most interesting (see below). It also gives a better view of the crack, even if upside-down. Look very carefully at the shapes of the man’s limbs and then compare them to the shadow on the tomb, noting particularly that the shadow of the elbow is just above the crack we have already looked at. Now, does that shadow look like it matches? Well, there’s just no accounting for shadows sometimes, but this one looks compellingly like a rearing horse.

 

[AlainD]

Yes I remember, about the horse, I was just mentioning what the shadow looked like to me. We all see things differently. Thanks for response guys.

 

[Alejo]

Yes I remember, about the horse, I was just mentioning what the shadow looked like to me. We all see things differently. Thanks for response guys.

Don't be discouraged, look now that you seeing an alien might cause you to learn something about history..:) on that same chapter mentioned there's this as an addendum:

Since the writing of The Wave, I have had additional thoughts about the painting that may, actually, be the solution. The painting was done between 1638 and 1640 and in 1685 became part of the private collection of Louis XIV. Louis, it should be noted, was born in 1638. His birth came after 23 years of his estranged parents’ childlessness. Though his mother, Anne of Austria, had 4 stillborn children prior to his birth, it seems clear from the historical material that his father, Louis XIII was homosexual. Anne was treated very badly by her mother-in-law, Catherine de Medici, and humiliated by her husband and his homosexual affairs. It is likely that Anne, with the collusion of Cardinal Richelieu, who ran the French empire almost single-handedly, managed to produce an heir by another man.

If one compares paintings of Anne of Austria to the woman in the “Shepherds of Arcadia” painting, a striking resemblance is immediately apparent. This all ties in with the amazing story of the Man in the Iron Mask (it was actually velvet), but we don’t have time to go into that now.
In any event, my conclusion is that the reason for the importance of the “Shepherds of Arcadia” painting is that it depicted the true parentage of Louis XIV and made a rather bold statement about it as well.

The mysterious letter from Abbé Louis Fouquet to his brother, Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances to Louis XIV saying that certain knowledge could be turned to profit, referred to this fact as well and probably implied blackmail.

Yes, I know, not exactly an amazing or mysterious solution to the mystery, but there it is; the facts fit rather well

I hope this helps.