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Comment by mtlmtlmtlmtl | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if – assuming it's not forged or a product of hallucination/pareidolia – this was created during the bubonic plague epidemic in Europe in the 14th century. Priests would travel around to farms to "treat" the ill. And no doubt see some fucked up shit in the process.

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No. The work was created in the 20th century by a conservator going rogue, for reasons unknown, and completely ignoring the underlying painting that he was supposed to restore.

That's not a confirmed theory at all. It seems likely, yes, but not confirmed.

I wouldn't say it's only a "theory" that remnants of a 16th/17th century (not 14th) mural depicting biblical figures were present before Gotaas turned up. That is clearly documented. I mean, you could make a very far-fetched hypothesis that under this work was another, much older work, unlike anything else ever known to be produced at the time, which Gotaas somehow discovered and restored without telling anyone else and without stopping to ask whether they would prefer this to be restored instead of the biblical scene they had originally asked him to take a look at. But there is absolutely zero evidence that any of the figures depicted by Gotaas were present before he began his "restoration".

I'm aware it's far fetched and I don't even really believe it, and there is no evidence like you say, but it's also kind of hard since there doesn't seem to have been a huge amount of analysis done before his work. To me this is one of those things we'll basically never know the answer to; the crucial information(state of the mural before the restoration) is lost to history. It reminds me of the Voynich manuscript in that sense.

I was just captivated by the idea of some 14th century priest losing his mind and doing this. But yeah, not exactly likely.

It was done in the 1940’s so the demons might be due to WWII.

I don't see any clear demon there. I see dragons (a scaly body can be seen near), fantastic animals and people. Some with grotesque or angry faces.

A wildboar, a baby over a horse and a warrior can be spotted clearly but, apart of a goat with horns (that is not looking at the spectator and could just be a hunting scene), none of the stereotypical figures associated to demons like stars, 666 numbers, or inverted crosses are seen in the photos

If there are demons, they look much more like Asian demons. Not in the christian tradition at all.

> none of the stereotypical figures associated to demons like stars, 666 numbers, or inverted crosses are seen in the photos

Those are modern, pop culture stereotypes. The inverted cross and the pentagram are centuries old catholic symbols (not associated with demons).

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