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‘These dingbats won’t find my little Bacchus Easter egg for centuries!’ — Caravaggio, 1595

32 Sneaky Details Left by Brilliant Creators

November 09, 2023

Thought movies and TV shows had a monopoly on Easter eggs, did you? Well, musicians, writers and painters have been scattering them around for centuries, too. We’ve even got some 15th-century eggs here that, if you can withstand the smell, are actually quite satisfying.

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Foreshadowed in a cipher. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of THE DE PINCY CODE DAN BROWN THE DA VINCI CODE A NOVEL DECEPTION POINT CRACKED.COM The last page of Dan Brown's Deception Point contains a coded message featuring a string of numbers and letters. Savvy readers replaced each number with the first letter of its corresponding chapter, and when you unscramble the message it reads: THE DA VINCI CODE WILL SURFACE. The Da Vinci Code was released two years later. — Source

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Tips from a murderer. OWWW! THANKS TO LEE TRAVIS OF CLEVELAND,CHIO. ALWAYS TAKE CARE USING HOUSEHOLD TOOLS, THAT WAY I HIT THOUGH ...OTHERWISE YOU COULD HURT YOURSELF THE NAIL-- AND OTHERS! ..NOT MY FINGERS! GEE. THANKS FOR THE TIP! TY TEMPLETOFF CRACKED.COM In the 1960's, a lot of DC comics included a bonus strip called Cap's Hobby Hints for arts and crafts projects. One such (seemingly) innocent tip involves using a comb to hold a nail while you strike it with a hammer, sent in by Lee Travis. Lee Travis is better known as The Crimson Avenger, a comic illustrated by — Source

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The author writes a love note in her own book. MARGARET ATWOOD THE HANDMAID'S TALE CRACKED.COM In the novel The Handmaid's Tale, there's not a lot of non-sanctioned love going on in dystopian New England, which makes the appearance of М. loves G. 1972 carved into a desk that much more intriguing. The individuals behind the message aren't characters in the book, but rather the author Margaret Atwood and the man she married in 1972, Greame Gibson. — Source

29

Alice in Wonderland

What you'll find in the Looking Glass. A boat, beneath a sunny sky Children yet, the tale to hear, Lingering onward dreamily Eager eye and willing ear, In an evening of July- Lovingly shall nestle near Children three that nestle near, In a Wonderland they lio Eager eye and willing ear. Dreaming as the days go by Pleased a simple tale to hear- Dreaming as the summers die: A boat beneatha sunny sky Long has paled that sunny sky: Lingering onward dreamity Echoes tade and memories die Ever drifting down the stream - In an evening of July- Autumn frosts have — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots Hercules TWO words exactly. Two words, Phil replies as Hercules asks for his help. I am retired! In Greek, that is Eípa Come on, count the words. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots لو منور كافكا Homeland Homeland is watermelon. The show hired people who knew Arabic to decorate a set with graffiti. The artists decided to write what they really thought of Homeland, like, This show does not represent the views of the artists, or Homeland is watermelon (which in Arabic is meaner than in English). CRACKED.COM — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots The Lord World: Jurassic Park I left Japan to get away from this! The screams of a Japanese man running from the rampaging T-rex reference another city- destroying dinosaur, who is really big in Japan. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots Game of Thrones Your mother was a hamster! The Mereenese champion who challenges Daenerys and her army in Season 4 speaks Valyrian and not French, but his taunts come straight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots King Kong show me the monkey. The ship Carl Denham is traveling on receives a message ordering Denham's arrest - but what the Morse code beeps actually spell is, SHOW ME THE MONKEY. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Easter Eggs for Polyglots Mulan Eye candy The fake name Mulan gives, Fa Ping, translates flower vase -a term roughly equivalent to eye candy, which is exactly what she's meant to be at the beginning. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

NRON Кояп iSsues If you listen to Am I Going Crazy? off of Korn's 1999 album Issues, you'll probably notice some eerie, peculiar noises in the background. Turns out, those noises are the song itself in reverse. In other words, if you play the track backwards it's pretty much the exact same song. Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX7BxCecutw GRAGKED.COM http://www.youtube.com/atch?v=PEm5sXBhsCo — Source

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CRACKED.COM BACK THE TO FUTURE JUST SHY OF 3 MINUTES INTO THE HUEY LEWIS SONG BACK IN TIME, YOU CAN HEAR A VOICE IN THE BACKGROUND WHISPER, GET BACK, MARTY. — Source

20

Weird Al

CRACKED COM WEIRD AL'S SONG, I REMEMBER LARRY, CONTAINS THE BACKWARD MESSAGE WOW, YOU MUST HAVE AN AWFUL LOT OF FREE TIME ON YOUR HANDS — Source

19

Is there a doctor in the house? LOOK! UP IN THE SKY! LIONO LAPG Lote CRACKED.COM During the events of Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, alien races on 31st century Earth are being detained; one panel depicts a group of aliens being ushered into a police vehicle, in which Futurama's Dr. Zoidberg can be seen. This lines up with the century that Futurama takes place. — Source

18

A minor character in Harry Potter is a tribute to a real fan. Harry Potter AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE CRACKED.COM In 1999 when she was still a hero to children everywhere, J.K. Rowling received a communication about a fan with Leukemia named Natalie. Rowling responded with the future storylines of all the books' characters, but unfortunately it was too late and Natalie never saw. In honor of her, Rowling added Natalie as a named character in The Goblet of Fire. — Source

17

Hints proceeding unfortunate events. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket Book THE leacher the Wide Window CRACKED.COM In Lemony Snicket's 13 part series of children's novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events, there are full-page illustrations at the end of each book that contain clues to the next installment. For instance, the last illustration in The Reptile Room features a man wearing a shirt that reads Lachrymose Leeches, which make their slimy debut in the next book, The Wide Window. — Source

16

Pennywise the clown keeps popping up. STEPHEN KING THE TOMMY- KNOCKERS HIS LATEST DESTSELLER CRACKED.COM All of Stephen King's books are connected in some way, featuring evil forces from the Macroverse that terrorize an, admittedly, geographically small portion of our realm. The creature from IT, Pennywise, is described in Tommyknockers as a clown with shiny silver dollars for eyes. His name also appears in Dreamcatcher, as someone has spray painted Pennywise Lives on a standpipe. — Source

15

An alternate reality reveals a real identity. THE RETURN DE I SEMIRATION'S CONS VILLADO G JUL STAR TRER THE NEXT GENERATION Q-SQUARED PETER DAVID CRACKED.COM In the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Q-Squared, several alternate realities are created, resulting in splintered timeline tracks. In one such track, Track A, the bartender in the Enterprise's Ten-Forward Lounge is named Caryn Johnson; in the show, this position is held by the character Guinan, who is played by Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi's real name is, you guessed it, Caryn Johnson. — Source

14

Tolkien in another language. The Fellowship of the Ring BEING THE FIRST PART OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS BY CRACKED.COM The Lord Of The Rings books were just an excuse for linguist J.R.R. Tolkien to flex his fantastical language crafting, and he took every opportunity to decorate his work with secret translations. On the title page of The Fellowship Of The Ring, the top Cirth runes and bottom Tengwar script spell out the message: The Lord of the Rings translated from the red book of Westmarch by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Herein is set forth the history of-the War — Source

13

Spider-Man and his itsy-bitsy friends. MARVEL AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - THE NATURAL 302 CRACKED GOM Comic artist Todd McFarlane would hide spiders on the cover of his Amazing Spider-Man issues, beginning at #303, woven into the fabric of the illustration. If you're having trouble seeing all the sneaky arachnids, just look at the number next to McFarlane's signature to see how many there are to find. — Source

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Harrison Ford's influence knows no time or space. LEGENDS STAR WARS THE PARADISE ESNARE THE HAN SOLO TRILOGY BOOK A. C. CRISPIN CRACKED.COM In volume one of the 1997 Han Solo trilogy, The Paradise Snare, it's revealed that Han uses the alias Jenos Idanian in the events prior to A New Hope. Unscrambling the name and switching the order will give you Indiana Jones, which hardcore movie fans recognize as another character played by Harrison Ford. — Source

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CRACKED When restoring Isaac van Ostade's 17th-century A Village Fair With A Church Behind in 2015, art historians discovered that a bush was a later addition, painted in by some poop-hating killjoy to cover a guy cheerfully taking a dump. — Source

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CRACKED Flemish artist Clara Peeters' Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels features another incredibly subtle self-portrait - Peeters painted with such accuracy that she included herself reflected in the rim of the jug. — Source

9

CRACKED Raphael's The School of Athens is hella dense, featuring 52 characters. The setting is also quite something: it's modeled on the architectural plans for St. Peter's Basilica, which wouldn't be finished for another century - like a renaissance CGI walkthrough. — Source

8

CRACKED The Adoration of the Magi places multiple well-known figures of the time around Christ, including the powerful Medici family and the guy who commissioned the painting. The dude on the far right looking straight at us? Botticelli himself, showing off. — Source

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CRACKED It wasn't until 1990 that anyone realized that in Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the cloak surrounding God and his angels is a giant brain, complete with cerebellum, optic chiasm and pituitary gland. — Source

6

CRACKED An Italian musician recently theorized that placing a musical staff across The Last Supper and treating the bread rolls as notes results in a short hymn to Jesus. Leonardo was more musical than people realize, but still, whoa, that's insane. — Source

5

Hidden Details

CRACKED Ghirlandaio's 15th-century The Madonna with Saint Giovannino contains a baffling detail that looks a lot like a flying saucer, with a dogwalker pointing at it. It's probably not incontrovertible proof of aliens, but, you know, maybe it is. — Source

4

CRACKED Giotto's 13th century frescoes in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi had a hidden secret for centuries - nobody could get up high enough to spot a side-on portrait of Satan hidden in the clouds. — Source

3

CRACKED Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors contains one of the art world's better-known but also super-rad Easter eggs - a mysterious diagonal blur on the floor is actually a giant skull that only becomes clear if you stand way off to the right. — Source

2

Georges Seurat

CRACKED Georges Seurat's Young Woman Powdering Herself depicts his lover, Madeleine Knoblauch, painted using his pointillism technique. The odd-looking window was originally a mirror showing the artist himself, but he painted over it after a friend made fun of him. — Source

1

CRACKED In his 1595 portrait of Bacchus, the god of wine, Caravaggio snuck in a minute self-portrait as a reflection in a carafe of wine. It took centuries for the miniature cameo to be spotted. — Source

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