Artist Imagines the Reverse Side of Iconic Masterpieces

@domingomattle LADY WITH AN ERMINES BACK 140x100cm OIL ON CANVAS . . #art #davinci #oilpainting #arts ♬ Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar

Historic oil paintings often depict famous subjects at their finest, dressed elegantly and posed to project power, allure, and prestige. We almost always see them from the front, where every detail feels carefully staged. But what if we could peek behind the scenes? Artist Domingo Geronimo Mattle imagines what classic paintings might look like from behind, revealing far less glamorous perspectives that make the subjects seem a lot more relatable.

“The series came from the idea that famous paintings have become almost religious icons,” Mattle tells My Modern Met. “We all know their faces, but nobody ever talks about their backs—as if art history collectively decided they don’t exist.” The artist set out to give these iconic images a fuller story by imagining what the subjects look like from behind. From Grant Wood’s American Gothic to Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine, each reverse-perspective oil painting is impressively rendered in the same style as the original.

Mattle was inspired by the messy, behind-the-scenes side of creativity that usually stays hidden from view. We’re often presented only with the perfectly curated final image, while the less polished, more human parts of the creative process remain unseen. He explains, “I loved imagining the hidden side of these masterpieces: the backstage area of mythology. The front is immortality; the back is screws, dust, panic, tape, coffee stains, and maybe a museum worker having a nervous breakdown.”

In one piece, Mattle paints the reverse side of a portrait of Louise Vernet, revealing that she’s secretly clutching a flower behind her back. In another, he reimagines the back view of Apollo, humorously exposing the fact that the otherwise heroic figure is completely bare from behind.

“For me, the works gently poke at the art world’s obsession with aura and spectacle while also weirdly celebrating it,” he says, “They’re fake discoveries pretending to reveal a truth nobody was asking for.” Mattle adds, “It’s basically gossip for paintings.”

Check out the artist’s clever paintings below and follow Domingo Geronimo Mattle on Instagram and TikTok for more.

Artist Domingo Geronimo Mattle imagines what classic paintings might look like from behind.

@domingomattle Portrait of Louise Vernet 130x100cm Oil on Canvas 2026 #art #painting #artista #oilpaint ♬ original sound – hagridssock

Each oil painting reveals a far less glamorous perspective that makes the subject seem a lot more relatable.

@domingomattle apollo and his muses 130×100 oil on canvas . . #art #conemporaryart #streetart #oilpainting ♬ suara asli – AnDes23

The artist says his humorous work is “basically gossip for paintings.”

@domingomattle Psyop Painting 3 . American Propaganda 120x140cm oil on canvas #art #americangothic #painting #streetart #artist ♬ suara asli – AnDes23

@domingomattle psyop 4 . The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries 150x100cm OIL ON CANVAS . #contemporaryart #oilpainting #art #napoleon #louvre ♬ suara asli – AnDes23