The Crying Boy Riddle and Curse: Why Amadio Called the Devil's Painter

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Italian painter Bruno Amadio, who worked under the pseudonym - Giovanni Bragolin, in the history of art of the 20th century is considered to be the most dramatic and sinister artist, who was called the painter of the devil. In particular, his name is associated with a terrible story that terrifies many who encountered his creation, "The Crying Boy", fanned by a terrible legend, rumors and speculation.

A few words about the artist

Bruno Amadio (Giovanni Bragolin) was born in 1911 and lived a fairly long life, leaving behind a number of paintings depicting crying children. Despite the fact that the artist lived in the last century, very little information has survived about him. After his life, there are practically no personal photographs left, he never gave interviews to journalists, art critics did not write their reviews about him. It is only known that during the war years he was a participant in World War II, who fought on the side of Mussolini. At the end of the war, he moved to Spain, and there he changed his real name from Bruno Amadio to Giovanni Bragolin. Later he lived and worked in Venice, was an artist-restorer.

During his creative career, the artist created a whole cycle of portraits, or to be more precise, 65 works dedicated to crying children, which depict the images of orphans. From their portraits. Knowledgeable people said that these are the faces of children from an orphanage, which burned down during the war.

Oddly enough, but the portraits of Amadio's crying children were very popular, of which reproductions were printed in large quantities and sold en masse through bookstore chains. And the artist successfully sold images of children on canvases in originals to compassionate tourists. The most famous portrait of this series is The Crying Boy, which has become not only the author's trademark, but was also officially recognized as a "damned painting" that brings misfortune to its owners, even in the form of reproductions.

The history of the creation of the portrait

There are more than enough legends associated with the painting "Crying Boy". The most popular version says that the canvas depicts Giovanni's own son, although in fact nothing is known about his family. Nevertheless, according to this version, the artist's son was a rather nervous, fearful child. In particular, he was afraid of fire - flames in the stove, lighted candles and even matches. Therefore, in order to evoke a feeling of fear and horror in his son, the father lit matches in front of the baby's face, seeking the desired emotion and believable children's tears.

Thus, in the work on the portrait, he achieved the visual and psychological realism in the genre of which he worked. And at the same time, he brought his son to such despair and anger that he, unable to withstand the abuse, shouted to his father to burn himself. No matter how unnatural this legend looks, it is quite easy to believe in it. One has only to remember the father of the great Amadeus Mozart, who forced his young son to play music for 14-16 hours a day. And besides, if you delve into the history of mankind, there is not so little other evidence about despots-parents.

This version has a sad continuation, which is partially at odds with reality. Soon, the boy posing for his father died of bilateral pneumonia, he literally burned out in a fever. A little later, a terrible fire broke out in the painter's workshop. All of his paintings were burnt down, but only the ill-fated portrait remained intact, it did not even become covered with soot. There were rumors that the charred corpse of Amadio himself was also found in the room. However, this is already clear speculation: it is known that the artist actually died of esophageal cancer and this happened much later. But the painting "Crying Boy" really did not suffer much. It was then that rumors spread that in

Another version of the creation of "Crying Boy" says that the realist painter portrayed children from orphanages. Unhappy, desperate and ready to show their suffering to any kind person. So, in 1973, on one of the Venetian streets, he saw the artist a little tomboy, an inhabitant of an orphanage, with a colorful appearance. The artist immediately persuaded him to pose for the painting. Soon after the end of the portrait, the little boy died according to one version - under the wheels of a car, according to another - in a fire in an orphanage. And then - you already guessed it - a fire in the artist's studio, in which everything but the notorious portrait burned down.

However, there is another unconfirmed version, according to which the artist is credited with the role of the tormentor of children. This conclusion of the researchers is prompted by the fact that during the war Giovanni fought on the side of the Nazis, and it is likely that he could participate in experiments conducted on young children. And that is why it was so easy for the artist, who saw and took part in the bullying of children, to depict their suffering and pain on his canvases.

And who knows which of all the above versions is most similar to the truth. And it is likely that much of the above is the fiction of journalists or the frightened inhabitants themselves, but it is really very difficult to look at a reproduction of a mystical portrait for a long time. At the sight of an unfortunate crying child, there is a deep feeling of anxiety and discomfort, from which goosebumps …

Mystic or Reality

Almost 35 years ago, in the mid-80s, a series of unexplained fires swept across England, associated with various factors and circumstances, accompanied by human casualties. As it turned out later, all the tragic events had one thing in common - in all cases there was a reproduction of one of Giovanni Bragolin's paintings on the premises, which remained untouched by fire.

The British attention to the mysterious fact was attracted by a Yorkshire firefighter named Peter Hall, who said in an interview that across northern England fire brigades are finding copies of Bragolin's paintings untouched by fire at fire sites. An unprecedented panic gripped the country. Scared to death, the townsfolk firmly decided: It was not for nothing that after each fire, among the coals, a portrait of a crying baby was found safe and sound, on which even traces of soot were not visible.

Moreover - when, for the purpose of experiment, the journalists of one of the London publications took several reproductions and wanted to burn them - the paper did not burn, and no one could explain this phenomenon. The only assumption that the quality of the paper is high - that is why it does not burn, did not get any support.

In November 1985, the editorial staff of The Sun decided to stage a massive demonstrative burning of images of a tear-stained baby collected from the townspeople, with the involvement of television. The action was held in a vacant lot outside the city, where a huge bonfire was set up, in which all the remaining copies were burned.

After the act of burning, the British froze in anticipation of something catastrophic. However, days, weeks, years passed, and massive fires did not happen again. The “crying boy”, having burnt in the fire, stopped taking revenge on people. Over time, the creepy story began to be forgotten. Only the old filing of newspapers remained, which remind of her to this day.

Continuing the theme of childhood, read: The world of childhood of the XIX century in the paintings of Gaetano Chierizi, for which fabulous sums are being paid at auctions today.