The Curse of the "Crying Boy" or How Journalists Created a Sensation They Were Not Happy About

There are things in the world that are traditionally considered sources of misfortune. Science has not yet found an explanation for this phenomenon, but there are too many fatalities recorded around the Busby chair to dismiss them as a simple coincidence. A similar story happened with the painting by Italian artist Giovanni Bragolin "The Crying Boy". Many are convinced that the canvas provokes fires, and millions of people around the world believe in this version. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that this story is not as simple as it seems at first glance.

Bruno Amadio, who hid behind the pseudonym Giovanni Bragolin, like many talented artists, was a passionate person. Perhaps even too passionate. According to rumors, he used his own son as a model for the creation of the "Crying Boy". And what is remarkable is that the child did not pose of his own free will. Inspired by the idea of achieving maximum realism, the father brought the boy to tears in a very cruel way: he lit matches right in front of his face.

According to legend, the boy, who cried daily from fear, one day could not stand it and said to his father: "Burn yourself." It is believed that these words became fatal. The curse affected not only the original paintings depicting the crying child, but also their copies and printed reproductions.

It was rumored that the first victim of the curse was the artist himself - he allegedly burned down along with his house. But these are just rumors. In fact, Giovanni Bragolin died an unpleasant, but quite ordinary death. It was not the flames that brought him to the grave, but esophageal cancer. The artist died after a long illness in 1981.

The painting "The Crying Boy", created in the 1950s, quickly gained popularity. It was especially popular with the people of Great Britain, where the circulation of reproductions exceeded 50 thousand copies. The first story about a fire connected with this canvas was published in the British publication The Sun. On September 4, 1985, the newspaper published an article under the headline "Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy".

The story revolves around Ron and May Hull from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The couple bought a reproduction of a painting of a boy and hung it in their living room. Shortly after, a fire broke out in their house, burning everything the couple owned except the painting. The painting remained on the wall, and even the area around it remained untouched by the fire.

The article also mentioned that Ron's brother, Peter Hull, was a firefighter in Rotherham. He said that firefighters had often found intact reproductions of the Crying Boy among the charred items. Although the word "curse" was not in the article, the authors presented the facts so cleverly that readers began to draw their own conclusions.

After this publication, reports of fires in houses with the ill-fated painting began to arrive regularly. In almost every case, the home was completely destroyed by fire, while the "Crying Boy" remained unharmed. The topic raised by The Sun was actively picked up by other publications. Soon, even so-called experts appeared who gave advice on how to avoid disaster. Most of their recommendations were banal: take the reproduction outside and burn it.

But the painting seemed to be able to "respond" in kind. One publication told the story of Malcolm Vaughan from Gloucestershire. He himself did not have the sinister portrait, but his neighbor did. Vaughan advised his neighbor to get rid of the painting and even helped burn it. However, when he returned home, the man found his own home engulfed in flames. Thus, the "Crying Boy" was rumored to be able to take revenge even from a distance.

Several important details were later revealed. Someone noticed that the paintings in the newspaper articles were not the same. It turned out that under the title "Crying Boy" there were hidden as many as ten different canvases by Giovanni Bragolin with images of crying children. Moreover, among them there were portraits of girls. In addition, the works of another author, the Scottish artist Anna Zenkaisen, who also painted children, were added to the "cursed" paintings.

Against this backdrop, the number of skeptics and those who openly ridiculed the legend of the cursed painting began to grow. Among them were even firefighters. Several experts published the results of an inspection of the scene, which showed that all the fires had occurred for entirely logical reasons. The myth of the “magical non-flammability” of the reproductions also did not stand up to criticism. They were examined and found to be printed on very thick paper, which does not ignite easily.

Soon, journalists reached the editorial office of The Sun, where the story of the "Crying Boy" originated. Many interesting things were revealed about the tabloid. It turned out that the first publications about the sinister picture appeared during a difficult period for the publication. In 1985, the newspaper was going through a serious crisis: the number of readers dropped sharply, and the publication was on the verge of closing. It was at this time that the most controversial and controversial materials were published.

There were also rumors that the editor-in-chief of the publication, Kelvin Mackenzie, was an overly trusting and superstitious person. His colleagues at the editorial office often played a prank on him by hanging a picture of a crying child on the wall. And each time Mackenzie turned pale, said: "This is bad luck," and then took down the reproduction and hastily carried it out of the office.

All these stories began to undermine the reputation of The Sun. Eventually, the journalists decided to stop the excitement that had flared up around the pictures. In one of the issues, an advertisement appeared with the following text:

There were so many people who wanted to get rid of the Crying Boy that the editorial office had to allocate a separate room for the reproductions. In September, The Sun announced a mass burning of dangerous paintings, as if hinting that the story had come to an end. At the same time, journalists wanted to prove that the canvases really could be destroyed by fire. Initially, they planned to burn the paintings on the roof of the editorial office in central London, but the firefighters forbade this. In the end, the fire was lit outside the city, on a vacant lot by the Thames.

On Halloween 1985, an article called "The Weeping Flame" was published. In it, The Sun staff claimed that they had burned hundreds of reproductions and thus lifted the curse. Now, they said, they were tired of even discussing the sensation that had become so boring. In fact, the publication finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief. However, the legend no longer needed the support of the press - it continued to exist independently.

Another attempt to debunk the myth of the "Crying Boy" was made by British comedian and writer Steve Punt. He bought several reproductions of the painting and burned them, closely observing the process. The researcher found that different parts of the painting reacted to the flame differently. First, the cord on which the painting was hung burned, then the frame. The sheet of thick paper itself burned extremely reluctantly.

Punt decided to take one of the paintings to a lab, where they conducted a chemical analysis of the paper and printing ink. The study showed that the paper was impregnated with a fire retardant, a substance that increases the fire resistance of materials. It is actively used, for example, in the construction of wooden houses. This trick was obviously the work of the companies that produced the reproductions. Why did they do this? Most likely, they benefited from the hype around the mystical portraits. The story of the "Crying Boy" is a classic example of how rumors and superstitions can take on a life of their own, without having any real basis. Nevertheless, such mystical legends always have supporters and skeptics. What do you think about such stories? Do you believe in cursed objects or do you think it's just a coincidence? Share your opinion in the comments!