There's a UFO in my painting !!!

"UFOs are not a recent invention, they were seen by our ancestors as well!" This is one of the typical claims that can be found in books by Erich Von Daniken, Peter Kolosimo, and similar authors. The proof for it? A variety of strange objects depicted in paintings by some of the world's greatest artists.

The Madonna's Spaceship

A typical example is the Madonna con Bambino e San Giovannino (Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John) attributed to Sebastiano Mainardi or Jacopo del Sellaio. The painting is from the end of the fifteenth century and is now on display in the Sala d'Ercole in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Examining it, we see in the upper background, behind the Madonna, a strange oval shape suspended in the sky. Some UFOlogists describe it as "an airborne object, leaden in color, inclined to port, sporting a 'dome' or 'turret,' apparently identifiable as an oval-shaped moving flying device."

In order to understand what this and other ancient paintings really portrayed, however, it is essential to learn how ancient artists really worked. "Not one of those that see UFOs in paintings," says Italian art expert Diego Cuoghi, "ever tries to understand the real symbolical meanings of those strange things in the art of that period, and so they take them as realistic depictions of unidentified flying objects seen live."

The object in Mainardi's painting is a "radiant cloud." "In those times," says Cuoghi, "the subjects for paintings were almost exclusively of a religious nature and, in the case of the 'adorations,' like Mainardi's, there often appeared in the sky an angel or, as some apocryphal Gospels have it, a radiant cloud. Another example of this kind is in the Nativity of Lorenzo Monaco."

The little man on the right of the painting that shields his eyes looking at the sky is another typical element of such paintings. However, that man does not appear to look at the radiant cloud, but at the Nativity Star and three other small stars (or flames) to the far left, a symbol of the "trifold virginity" of the Madonna (before, during, and after the virgin birth).

Crivelli's UFOs

In Carlo Crivelli's Annunciazione (Annunciation), a 1486 painting now on display at the National Gallery in London, some believe that a UFO is in the sky and that from it a ray of light comes down to touch the head of the Virgin Mary. All mystery mongering prints of this painting show poor-quality reproductions of the details. However, it would be enough to visit the gallery or look at a better print of the painting to see that it is not a UFO at all. "It's a vortex of angels in the clouds," says Cuoghi, "a very common artistic device used to represent the presence of God, and it can be seen in many Medieval and Renaissance religious paintings, like in Correggio's fresco at the Dome of Parma or in Gustave Dore's engraving of Canto XXI from Dante's Paradiso from his The Divine Comedy, but above all in most Anunciations and Baptisms of the Christ."

Another Crivelli painting, the Madonna con Bambino (Madonna with Child) at the Pinacoteca of Ancona, is believed by some to show "objects very similar to modern nuclear missiles ready to launch"!

Those making such claims, however, never take the time to research the life of the artist, his work, or the place where the painting was originally displayed. It would be enough to compare this with other paintings by the same artist, in fact, to establish that the "missiles" are actually towers and bell towers, like those that appear in almost all of Crivelli's paintings.

Another example is the famous Mayan bas-relief that Von Daniken and others believed represented an astronaut, but was actually a depiction of Pakal, the Maya king. One cannot simply give a modern interpretation to events and depictions outside of their original context.

God's Sputnik

The Santissima Trinita (Holy Trinity) by Bonaventura Salimbeni (1595), now a St. Peter's Basilica at Montalcino, is one of the most famous "UFOs" in a painting. The mysterious "spherical object with antennae" that appears between Christ and God has frequently been referred to as "Montalcino's Sputnik," due to his similarity in appearance to the old Soviet satellites.

In truth, the globe represents Creation, with the Sun on top and the Moon below left (some interpreted it as the periscope of the satellite!). The "antennae" are actually two sceptres held by Christ and God.

The same kind of astronomical illustration on the Globe of Creation can be found in a painting by Pieter Coecke, depicting the Trinity and now on display at Prado's Musem in Madrid. Here as well it is possible to see the Sun, the Earth, with the cone of shade, and the Moon, smaller, down below.

"The representations of Sun and Moon" continues Diego Cuoghi "have frequently misled some UFOlogists who have completely misunderstood their meaning. The majority of the crucifixion paintings and mosaics done in the Byzantine style, for example, show the same odd 'objects' on either side of the cross, the Sun and the Moon, and they are often represented with a human face or figure."

Skeptical Inquirer, May-June, 2005 by Massimo Polidoro