# So, what's the second-most-famous painting in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656 "2007-06-27T17:33:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/1 "2007-06-27T17:33:47Z")
I think it’s inarguable that the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world. Ask 100 people to think of a famous painting, and I bet at least 50 (and probably more like 75) would name Leonardo’s work. So what do you think the _second_-most-famous painting in the world is? Which painting would get 20% (or 10%) of the vote? The possibilities that occur to me: Leonardo’s _Last Supper_ Dali’s _The Persistence of Memory_ one of Warhol’s Marilyns But maybe I’m overlooking something obvious. Your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/2 "2007-06-27T17:34:42Z")
Maybe Munch’s _The Scream_? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/3 "2007-06-27T17:37:56Z")
I’d go with Last Supper. Also, Boticelli’s _Birth of Venus_. _The Scream_ is a good one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/4 "2007-06-27T17:39:08Z")
_Last Supper_ is a good guess. Perhaps Van Gogh’s self-portrait. I know he did a lot, but there’s [one](http://www.artquotes.net/masters/vangogh/vangogh_selfportrait1889.jpg) that kind of stands out to me. Or maybe “Starry Night”. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/5 "2007-06-27T17:39:26Z")
I thought of the _Last Supper_, initially. Other contenders might be: Seurat’s _Sunday on the Isle de la Grande Jatte_. Gainesbourough’s _The Blue Boy_. Monet and Van Gogh are pretty recognizable, but I’m not sure which paintings I’d pick. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/6 "2007-06-27T17:41:27Z")
Isn’t The Last Supper a fresco? If that’s ok, then how about the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? The bit with God giving life to Adam? The Stary Night by Van Gough ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/7 "2007-06-27T17:43:14Z")
I was thinking Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel scene of God and Adam doing ET fingers. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/8 "2007-06-27T17:43:14Z")
It almost certainly depends on where you live. We’ve had discussions before that brought out the fact that the famous paintings in one country don’t match those in others. If a painting is in a museum inside the country that will make it disproportionately more familiar in that country. It’s also hard to know what western works of art are well known in Asia and Africa. There are definitely famous works of art from those places that are mostly unknown in the west. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/9 "2007-06-27T17:44:00Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] Gainesbourough’s _The Blue Boy_. [/QUOTE] I feel like an idiot…I’ve never seen or heard of this one. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/10 "2007-06-27T17:45:48Z")
I think it depends on where you ask the question. In the U.S. the majority of laymen would probably answer with the Mona Lisa. After that it’d probably be American Gothic or maybe Whistler’s Mother (thought they might not know the titles). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/11 "2007-06-27T17:57:04Z")
My first thought was The Last Supper. But how about Stuart’s Portrait of George Washington? Familiar to all who have held a dollar bill, subject of an exciting rescue starring Dolly Madison, hangs in the world’s most famous residence. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/12 "2007-06-27T17:58:32Z")
[QUOTE=stegon66] I think it depends on where you ask the question. In the U.S. the majority of laymen would probably answer with the Mona Lisa. After that it’d probably be American Gothic or maybe Whistler’s Mother (thought they might not know the titles). [/QUOTE] Those are the two I thought of in addition to the Sistine Chapel. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/13 "2007-06-27T18:05:25Z")
The thing is, only the Mona Lisa carries the triple whammy of being an instantly recongizable image that any halfway-literate person, anywhere in the West, can immediately identify by title and artist. Once you get beyond the Mona Lisa, there are “famous” paintings and “famous” images, but not always in combination. The Scream is about as ubiquitous and easily recognized an image as you can find, but I’m sure there are educated people that don’t know the artist. Picasso’s _Guernica_ is a more famous painting by title and artist, but doesn’t contain any single image as recognizable as The Scream. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/14 "2007-06-27T18:13:06Z")
Warhol’s soup cans or The Scream. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/15 "2007-06-27T18:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] I feel like an idiot…I’ve never seen or heard of this one. [/QUOTE] On second thought, it’s probably more famous in the “your grandma had a copy over her couch” sense, than in the Mona Lisa sense. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/16 "2007-06-27T18:17:46Z")
Some good clarifications. I was being western-centric, certainly, though it’s a good point that different groups of pollees would give different answers. I’m interested in a broad definition of “painting” – a layman’s understanding. And it’s not as important to me that people know the artist, or even the true name of the painting, so something like _Scream_ – great thought – counts even if they just know it’s the painting that looks like Macaulay Culkin in _Home Alone_. And the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is another good one – certainly iconic. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/17 "2007-06-27T18:20:35Z")
Wait! Wait! I’ve got it: one of Coolidge’s paintings. A Bad Bluff, perhaps, or His Station and Four Aces. In other words, Dogs Playing Poker. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/18 "2007-06-27T18:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=stegon66] I think it depends on where you ask the question. In the U.S. the majority of laymen would probably answer with the Mona Lisa. After that it’d probably be American Gothic or maybe Whistler’s Mother (thought they might not know the titles). [/QUOTE] “Whistler’s Mother” isn’t the name though. It’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother. I would think Hokusai’s The Great Wave would be up there. The big portrait of Chairman Mao in Beijing is also surely one of the most recognized in the world. Not good, but recognized. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/19 "2007-06-27T18:42:39Z")
Wot, no _Sunflowers_? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656/20 "2007-06-27T18:45:00Z")
I’d say the Laughing Cavalier has a lot of visible recognition, even if people don’t know the painter or the title of the painting. Otherwise, cast my vote for The Scream. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-the-second-most-famous-painting-in-the-world/409656.md?page=2)