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This optical illusion has been confusing people for almost 500 years — can you figure it out?

the ambassadors skitch
"The Ambassadors"by Hans Holbein the Younger. Wikimedia Commons
  • "The Ambassadors" is an oil painting that was finished in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger.
  • If you look at the painting head-on, there's a giant shape towards the bottom that looks like a blob, for lack of a better word.
  • But if you look at the painting from a different angle, the "blob" turns into a skull. It is painted from an "anamorphic perspective."
  • Art historians believe that the skull is a "memento mori" — a reminder of mortality.
  • In Latin, "memento mori" translates to "remember you will die."
  • Reportedly, it was the motto of Jean de Dinteville, the man who commissioned the painting. He's pictured on the left.
  • This optical illusion has been baffling people for almost five centuries. 
  • It's currently on display at the National Museum in London.
  • Watch the transformation below.

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