Revenge of the "Crying boy": hunted by the picture-the arsonist

In the 1980s in the North of England swept a series of fires. And all these incidents the common denominator was that in the burnt houses were found of the painting "the Crying boy". Completely untouched by fire. The country was panic-stricken. Tell, how there was a sinister legend about a painting, and what ultimately ended the case.

Series of works "Weeping boys", consisting of 65 paintings created by the Italian artist Giovanni Bragolin in the postwar years, became especially popular in Europe during the second half of the twentieth century. Something mystically attractive was in the sad faces of kids depicted in these paintings.

Especially strongly the reproduction of "Weeping boys" among people of Northern England they hung them in kitchens, living rooms and even bedrooms family houses and apartments. But in 1980-ies the British had to rethink their attitude toward these pictures, because suddenly it became clear that they brought their own to the owners of the suffering, loss and even death.

...was the headline on the front page of the British newspaper the Sun, published in September 1985. An article was devoted to strange stories that happened with Ron and may Hall in Rotherham in the North of England. Couple accidentally left the pan on the fire, which led to a fire that destroyed their house to the ground. But amid the charred wreckage and the ruins the firemen found one subject which remained almost intact in this great fire.

It was a reproduction of the painting "the Crying boy". Painting was sitting near where the fire started. Its edges are slightly burned, but the flames did not touch the face of a sad baby in the portrait. His bright blue eyes filled with tears, as if looked at a catastrophic scene of destruction with resentment and anger.

In the following days, the situation began to look even more alarming. Brother of Ron Hall, who worked as a firefighter, told journalists that the number of fires in the city suddenly greatly increased. Burned down about fifty houses. Again and again, the firefighters kept finding on the ashes of the reproduction of "Weeping boys", which miraculously remained intact.

In the North of England was growing panic, because according to The Sun, at the British houses hung more than 50,000 copies of this picture. After hearing about the mystical curse that many owners of "Crying boys" tried to burn their prints, but they failed to do so. These strange portraits just not burned in the fire.

Of course, soon people became interested in the history of the series of works "Weeping boys" and the personality of their Creator. But to their great disappointment, information about Italian artist named Giovanni Bragolin remained very small. During his lifetime he never gave interviews, critics wrote about him reviews. Nobody really knew how this person looked like.

However, journalists continued to "dig", they managed to find out that the person who worked under the pseudonym Giovanni Bragolin, was born in 1911. His name was Bruno Amadio. When the Second world war, he went to fight on the side of Benito Mussolini, leader of the National fascist party. In the postwar years, the artist settled in Venice, changed her name and began to draw portraits of the kids.

According to the generally accepted version, he posed the children from the orphanage, which burned down during the war. The artist realized that these poor and hungry children, who were forced to wander, unable to convey the emotions his paintings.

Of no less interest is the Central painting of the series, it is believed that it depicts the son of Bruno Amadio. Some believe that this child was adopted. Perhaps wanting to atone for the sins of his past, the artist wanted to adopt a child by the name of don Bonillo who lost parents during the war. Before you settle with Bruno the kid-the orphan has already changed several foster families.

The local priest told the artist that the boy was its fame as a "child of the devil", because all the couples who took pity on him and decided to adopt, was killed in a strange fire, which suddenly broke out in their own homes. But Bruno insisted to pick up the don to himself. The artist asked him to pose for the creation of the portrait. This painting became the most successful and popular of the entire series. But rejoiced in his success Bruno Amadio not for long.

Soon in his own workshop a fierce fire broke out. He miraculously survived, but is seriously thinking over the words of the priest, who claimed that the boy was "cursed." Bruno kicked the kid out of the house. We don't know how to continue life don Bonillo – until 1976.

Then in the suburbs of Barcelona the car at high speed crashed into a wall and caught fire. The person sitting behind the wheel, to identify the remains failed – too much they burned. However, in the glove box was discovered a driver's license in the name of don Bonillo.

Another legend says that Bruno Amadio depicted in this painting of her own son. Boy from childhood had angelic facial features, but was very shy as a child. He was shocked by everything that had to do with the open fire. Therefore, in order to achieve the desired emotions from the baby, the artist set fire to a match and brought them to his face. These abuses even more shattered psyche of the child.

This curse came true very soon. Two weeks after the painting was finished, my son Bruno Amadio high fever and pneumonia – he "burned" in just a few days. And then the fire took his father. The artist was burned alive in his workshop. The cause of this fire to find out it failed.

However, the death of the "devilish art" of the fire is still speculation lovers of mysticism. We know that life Bruno Amadio claimed cancer of the esophagus. And it happened decades later.

To the editors of The Sun came more stories from panicked residents who could not get rid of the sinister reproductions. And after another serious fire in the Italian restaurant where they had hung the painting "the Crying boy", the journalists decided to conduct a large-scale action to destroy the paintings.

They invited people to send in their reproduction of the damned paintings in the editor, and then collected all the copies and tripled a Grand bonfire of them in the wasteland outside the city. First, the picture stubbornly refused to burn, but in the end succumbed to the flames. After the destruction of a sinister "Weeping boys" the British finally breathed a sigh of relief. Mystical fires stopped. But the legend of a terrifying paintings are still alive.