NewsNational News

Mystery solved: Artist wrote 'madman' sentence on 'The Scream'

TheScream.jpg
Posted
and last updated

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Norwegian museum says a small, barely visible sentence written on Edvard Munch’s 1893 masterpiece “The Scream” was penned by the Norwegian painter himself.

The painting, which shows a waif-like figure cradling its head in its hands with mouth agape, has become a global icon for human anxiety.

The sentence, “can only have been painted by a madman," was scribbled in the top left-hand corner.

The painting will be exhibited at the new National Museum of Norway, which is opening next year.

A curator said Monday the inscription was likely made in 1895, when Munch exhibited the painting for the first time and was met with questions about his mental health.