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| Et In Arcadia Ego by Guercino |
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| Les Bergers d'Arcadie (early version) by Nicolas Poussin |
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| Les Bergers d'Arcadie (later version) by Nicolas Poussin |
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| Madeleine Penitente by Matteo Loves |
It started as a sort of poetic theme. 'Et in Arcadia ego' translates from Latin to mean something like : 'and (even) in Arcadia I (am there)'. Who is 'I?' Where is Arcadia? Arcadia was a real place in Greece, more inland and pastoral, full of rolling meadows and shepherds... and not much to the effect of big cities and other 'more civilized' establishments that usually come with big headaches in return. Shepherds could easily chill out while watching their flocks and eat fruit and come up with poetry or play music and all that fun stuff. Thus, Arcadia grew to be a term for a more symbolic place almost like heaven, where you could throw your cares away and enjoy nature and chill the hell out. Now the 'I' is thought to refer to Death himself (or herself or itself.. if you prefer).
The saying basically means this: even in such a nice setting, death is always lurking around the corner. It's a memento mori, or yet another reminder of death in all things. So it started as this theme you'd see in some ancient classical Greek or Roman texts, then it began showing up in visual form in paintings like the first one shown here at the very top, by Guercino. Nicolas Poussin likely saw it and was inspired to do his own take on it, with an early version and a later version (the next two respectively, from top). The last one shown is by Matteo Loves. There are all sorts out there. The usual way the theme is represented is by the actual phrase 'Et in Arcadia ego' showing up in a painting (usually having an idyllic setting), and/or the presence of a skull to denote Death. It's a theme that has continued well over the years.
So, yeah yeah yeah, great, Death is always there. Oooh, I'm scared. Once you've faced the fact well and admired the nice technique and colors in these paintings, what else is there? Apparently a whole lot more. Dimensions more. The most recognized painting with the 'Et in Arcadia' theme is the second version by Poussin. Some scholars (or folks of other cuts of cloth) say that there is sacred geometry hidden in the painting. Personally I think they just point out a bunch of random spots in a nice pattern and go 'holy crap!' for no reason. It's different if the points marked are like an eyeball, a foot, something that can be an easy marker, but most points in the proposed 'geometry' are more randomized. The shepherds look upon the inscription on a tomb, and it has been theorized that the tomb is the tomb of God or Christ Himself. There is a further theory that a village in France called Rennes Le Chateau contains similar scenery to the painting, and there is some giant conspiracy involving lots of history and different people fighting and ransacking over time- and somehow some sacred treasure from the Holy Land finding its way there. The treasure could be Jesus' bones, the Holy Grail, the Lost Ark, secret texts or a type of secret knowledge in itself, holy gold, and so forth. There are clues in the painting, besides just scenery, like the geometry itself, to point towards the treasure. Some people managed to bury this treasure or secret at Rennes Le Chateau and you have to peel away more layers than could be found in a trillion onions just to scratch the surface. If you have a lot of spare time, just saying. You might find the secret of life and death in all things if you are lucky, or potloads of heavy treasure. Or, you might just find crumbling stone and shitty old bones. Either way, it's all interesting fact, no?
