Forget Jesus in your toast – an art historian is claiming to have found the face of the devil in a Giotto fresco.

The fresco in question is on display in a basilica in Umbria, Italy, and was painted by Giotto di Bondone. The satanic mug is said to appear in the corner of a cloud depicted in the 700-year-old fresco. It was spotted by medievalist (and expert on St. Francis, who appears in the image) Chiara Frugoni. Here’s what she wrote in a forthcoming edition of the St. Francis art history periodical:

“It’s a powerful portrait, with a hooked nose, sunken eyes and two dark horns. The significance of the image still needs to be delved into. In the Middle Ages it was believed that demons lived in the sky and that they could impede the ascension of human souls to Heaven. Until now it was thought that the first painter to use clouds in this way was Andrea Mantegna, with a painting of St Sebastian from 1460, in which high up in the sky there’s a cloud from which a knight on horseback emerges. Now we know that Giotto was the first (to use this technique).”

Others appear happy to echo her observation. Claudio Strinati, an art historian, points out it was quite ordinary for hidden meanings to appear in Renaissance works: “Paintings often had two facets, an explicit one and an implicit one.”

Personally, I find it dubious – it seems like it could easily be a few coincidental brushtrokes, and the face hardly leaps out at you. In fact, it took me a couple of minutes to detect the alleged face, so I drew an outline in the image below:

What say you, readers?

Face of Devil Discovered in Giotto Fresco is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nearly $100 million in priceless pieces of art were destroyed by a Paris watchmaker when he became nervous about being caught.

According to the watchmaker he threw out the art pieces last year before being arrested by police. The man told police that a Serb nicknamed “Spiderman” stole works from a poorly guarded museum in May 2010 and tried to have the watch expert who also happens to have a background in auctions sell the art.

Among artists with stolen pieces were Picasso, Matisse and Braque among others. According to the watchmaker he “panicked and destroyed the canvasses before throwing them into a rubbish bin.”

Detectives working on the case say they can’t ”totally rule out” the story but are skeptical based on details provided to their office.

As the story goes ”Spiderman” was only attempting to steal a Fernand Léger work when he broken into the  Musée d’Art Moderne but when an alarm didn’t sound he walked around the museum for an hour while evading cameras as he picked up five works of art.

Police say the watch and antiques dealer reported the story to police after “Spiderman” failed to make a promised $40,000 payment.

I’m placing most of the blame on the museum for protecting their priceless pieces of art with a cheap alarm system that allowed a criminal to have free range over their facility for an entire hour.

Stolen Art Masterpieces Destroyed By Garbage Truck is a post from: The Inquisitr

I get building things from LEGO and I can even enjoy the occasional matchstick or toothpick sculpture but at some point I draw the line between really cool and really creepy, even if it is kinda cool.

This story falls right into the creepy area. I mean what would possess a person to make anything out of hair, let alone a castle, or in this case plural – castles.

It seems however that Augustina Woodgate isn’t creeped out by the idea and made over 3,000 bricks out of human hair and then used them to create two castle sculptures with them, of which one reaches about four and a half feet off the ground.

Uhm .. no.

via Geekosystem

No matter how you part this it is just plain creepy is a post from: The Inquisitr

Well, actually you might as long as you could both pull over at the nearest place so you could take some pictures of this incredible creation from 54-year-old Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn from Bangkok.

Using nothing more than scrap metal from cars, motorcycles, and bikes Sangwongprisarn sculpts it all together to create metal sculptures because really that is what this Alien motorcycle is, with the benefit of being able to be driven.

I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to pull up to a bar riding something like this?

via DVICE

This Alien motorcycle isn’t something you’d want to see coming at you in the rear view mirror is a post from: The Inquisitr

18 Car lanes.

13 Railroad tracks

Somewhere around 30 to 40 buildings – creator of Metropolis II Chris Burden has lost count of them.

And let’s not forget the 1,100 Matchbox cars that continuously motor through this futuristic work of art in motion.

Yes folks, every kids Hot Wheel dream has been brought to life in a four year project, now completed, that has cost millions of dollars to create.

However now that it is sold, for millions of dollars, Chris and his team of engineers get to take it all apart over the next three months so that it can be shipped in custom containers to its new; and unknown, owners.

In the meantime we get to enjoy seeing the completed work with this video.

via DVICE

A multi-million dollar Hot Wheel track like you’ve never seen [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

What better way to end a weekend than with some fine examples of body painting but as with any kind of works of art like this not everyone will appreciate the finer aspects of what can be done with a brush, or airbrush.

7 Awesome examples of body painting to end the weekend is a post from: The Inquisitr

And that’s only a tiny, tiny part of it.

As you might have read here, the Zelda franchise just celebrated its 25th anniversary, an event that inspired hardcore Japanese Zelda fan ‘ag+’ to create the greatest Zelda-themed painting ever. I mean, seriously, just look at this damn thing (then look at this link to an interactive version of the piece with all the characters identified):

[Pixiv, via Kotaku]

Greatest. Zelda. Painting. Ever. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Why, on a Pactuator of course!* This hand-cranked clockwork Pac-Man is going to be part of a far bigger project: a fully playable, mechanical Pac-Man cabinet, called ‘Pac Machina.’ See a video of it in motion HERE, and read up on its creation HERE.

* Possibly.

See also: DO WANT: Pac-Gentleman pays tribute to famous dot-chomper

[Up, Not North, via BoingBoing]

So how DID people play Pac-Man in the 1800s? is a post from: The Inquisitr

We’ve highlighted some pretty cool sand sculptures in the past here at The Inquisitr so I felt that since it was winter time that we share some love with some pretty incredible snow sculptures. Of course these aren’t the typical type of thing you’ll see popping up in lawns around your neighborhood but rather the contestants in contests from around the world.

via noupe

Never mind those old school sand sculptures, now it’s all about snow is a post from: The Inquisitr

Photography has always been a passion of mine especially black and white but I will never forget the effect that Lou Reed’s 1973 album Berlin had on me as I opened it up and began looking through the booklet that came with it.

Each of the images that went with the songs were down in a sepia tone with the exception of one single part of the photograph that was colored red. The impact of the images seemed to be stronger than if they had just been left in an all sepia tone.

Even today this style of photography holds a special place for me so when I saw this larger collection at Surf with Berserk I picked out some of my favorites to share with you.

A touch of color in a black and white world is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of the things I love about the web is that we are constantly being introduced to incredibly talented people. The other fantastic thing about the Web is that there is no age discrimination when it comes to sharing the work of talented people.

As many readers here at The Inquisitr will know I have a fascination for talented artists of all kinds. In that vein I’d like to introduce you to 17-year-old Fredo from Chile and his incredible talent which you can also find at his deviantART page.

via Fresh Pics

He might only be 17 but what an incredibly talented 3D artist is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a move that is sure to bring many an Apple fan to their knees in convulsions and reaching for box after box of Kleenex artist Paul Fairchild has taken some of the most iconic Apple gadgets and photographed them after they have been violently violated.

On the other hand they are also the perfect images for you to show that obnoxious friend who claims that Apple gadgets are perfect in every way and then watch them start trembling.

via CrunchGear

That weeping sound you hear is from Apple fanbois around the world is a post from: The Inquisitr

So what do you get when you combine the world of Star Wars and princess characters that abound in the Disney world of animation?

Well according to JosephB222 on deviantART you get some of the classic Disney princesses re-imaged as Sith Princesses.

Darth Snow White

Darth Ariel

Darth Jasmine

Darth Belle

Disney Princesses get their Star Wars Darth on is a post from: The Inquisitr

At first when I read this I thought is had to be a joke of some sort but it turns out that a New York University photography professor plans on have a camera implanted in the back of his head.

Yes you read that right.

Wafaa Bilal, and Iraqi assistant professor of photography and imaging department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, will be undergoing surgery in the next few weeks to have the camera installed. Then for one year Bilal will take still pictures at one-minute intervals which will then be fed to monitors at new museum in Qatar.

The thumbnail-sized camera will be affixed to his head through a piercing-like attachment, his NYU colleagues say. Mr. Bilal declined to comment for this story.

The artwork, titled “The 3rd I,” is intended as “a comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory and experience,” according to press materials from the museum, known as Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Bilal’s work would be among the inaugural exhibits of Mathaf, scheduled to open next month.

Because Mr. Bilal is an active professor, teaching three courses this semester and scheduled to teach this spring, his special camera could capture not just his personal activity, but also his interactions with students.

via Wall Street Journal

Apparently, and quite rightly so, the university is concerned about the privacy issues that could result from this and are still determining the rules by which Bilal will be able to have the camera actually taking pictures while on university property.

New lifestreaming technique – implanted camera in back of head is a post from: The Inquisitr

I can still remember the days of when floppy disks where the only way to install programs on your computer. CDs, DVDs and installing over the web were only a dream that every techie had flash through their minds as they inserted disk after disk into the floppy drive.

Now though the floppy disk has become a distant memory (thank God) replaced with DVDs and even more common place – over the web install. However designer Mehmet Gozetlik apparently still has fond memories of the floppy disk because he has created some great posters showing off various popular applications and how many disks it would take today’s version of the them to install.

• Firefox – 12 disks
• Firefox Add-Ons – 36 disks
• iTunes – 46 disks
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 – 358 disks
• Sims 3 – 1760 disks

via Geekosystem

IF 3.5″ Floppies Still Ruled The Roost is a post from: The Inquisitr

For most of us the whole idea of water balloons is nothing more than being fun weapons used to soak unsuspecting people but for Edward Horsford there is much more to them especially when combined with high-speed photography.

These images are moments in time caught forever but as Edward said in an email to Mito Habe-Evans of the NPR blog the camera is the least important part.

“My camera is really the least important part of the shots,”Horsford writes in an e-mail. The trick seems to be in the timing of the flash. He sets a timer on his camera to take a long exposure of 1 to 2 seconds, and if the flash fires within that time, he gets an image. He uses a special gizmo with a microphone that triggers the flashes when it picks up a certain level of sound (i.e., the pop of a balloon). For a more technical explanation, take a look at this article at DIY Photography.

Horsford usually uses a pin to poke the latex, and performs a variety of acrobatics to get everything in the right position without blocking the light or getting in the photo himself. And afterward? He writes, “I’m absolutely soaked and temporarily blinded!”

Here is just a small sample of Edward’s incredible work from his Flickr stream, which is well worth taking the time to go and visit.

12 incredible images of exploding water balloons is a post from: The Inquisitr

I have written before about incredible artists who turn our sidewalks into 3D worlds and there is no doubt that Eric Grohe is one of the most talented of these street artists.

After all I’m willing to bet that if you walked by any of these 3D streetscapes you would have to take a second look just to make sure your eyes weren’t messing with you.

via Fresh Pics

8 awesome 3D streetscapes to make you shake your head is a post from: The Inquisitr

My first experience in appreciating realism painting came from seeing the work of Ken Danby and his iconic painting of a hockey goalie. It had a great impact on my aspirations as an artist and became one of my favorite artists, right along side the likes of Dali, Huxley and Escher.

So when I see artwork like  these images I reminded of that time and the incredible talent it takes to create these realistic images.

Enjoy.

Alyssa Monks (including top image)

Halim Ghodbane

Dan Witz

Wayne Forrest

Rob Hefferan

Jeremy Geddas

Juan Francisco Casas Ruiz

via Hongkiat.com and @rizzn

8 incredible portraits you would swear were photographs is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hello, my name is Steven and I am addicted to all things steampunk.

Well they say honesty is the best policy and I honestly love these steampunk masks by Tom Banwell and really wish I could afford to have some of them hanging on my wall.

Somehow I think they would be the perfect addition to be wearing while playing a few rounds of Fallout 3.

via baekdal

Some awesome steampunk masks you’ll want for next Halloween is a post from: The Inquisitr

So what do you get when you combine a really talented artist and a whole pile of junk items like this:

Well if you are Zack Freeman and have a whole lot of glue and left over sheets of wood then you would create these awesome portraits that can only be seen properly when looking at them from a distance.

Using everything from old remotes, buttons, Lego pieces and little toy soldiers Freeman blends them all together to create something totally unique.

Zack Freeman at work.

via Fresh Pics

5 Awesome portraits made out of junk is a post from: The Inquisitr