The Painting That Ate Paris was a mysterious untitled painting with many levels that had the ability to absorb anyone or anything near it when activated by a contradiction or absurdity.
History
According to Mister Nobody, the original painting was created by the Italian artist and archaeologist Giovanni Battista Piranesi sometime in the 18th century, but was destroyed in 1814. The painting was later mentioned in the writings of novelist Oscar Wilde in the unpublish work "Confessions of Sebastian Melmoth", which Wilde claims inspired him to write the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
The second painting was created in the early 20th century by Max Bordenhast, a young Icelandic artist well known for his esoteric interests. Locking himself away in his garret room for days and using ancient shamanistic techniques, he apparently went insane soon after finishing the artwork and was committed to a mental asylum for the rest of his brief life, with his life's works (along the painting) vanishing completely.
Mister Nobody and his Brotherhood of Dada used it to take the entirety of Paris captive, although they were stopped by the Doom Patrol. They accidentally activated the painting, waking up the "the Fifth Horseman," which is extinction and oblivion. The Horse is about to launch into the real world when the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood, working together, send it through the Dada section and turn it into a rocking horse. The world is saved, but the Brotherhood decide to stay inside the painting, where they can make their own reality. The Painting that Ate Paris was destroyed by Yankee Doodle. However, this was not the end of the Painting, as a girl was later seen picking a piece of it and using it as a slingshot to hurl a rock to break a government window, as the fragment started regrowing.
Eventually the fragment grew to the size of a mural, and was installed at Dayton Manor in Prague, proving that the painting cannot be destroyed, and therefore, the original members of the Brotherhood of Dada (with the exception of Mister Nobody) are alive.[1]
See Also
- Appearances of Painting That Ate Paris
- Item Gallery: Painting That Ate Paris
- Images featuring Painting That Ate Paris