Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The Gallery

About fifteen years ago, I was attending university outside of London. The school is famous for its art gallery that draws visitors from all over England. My final exams were given in a cavernous hall with dozens of enormous oil paintings covering the walls from floor to ceiling.

I noticed that one painting hanging to my right had been covered with a large British flag. Although I didn't think much of it at the time, I asked several of the third-year students if they know anything about it. They told me the following story:

Apparently, the university had always given exams in this hall because it was the largest building on campus. A number of years ago, there was one student who could  not concentrate on his final exams. He just kept staring at a certain painting, oblivious to everything around him. He stared and stared at this one particular painting.

While everyone else was scribbling down answers, he took two of his sharpened pencils, inserted them into his nose, and slammed his head into the desk. The pencil tips penetrated straight into his brain, killing him instantly.

Ever since then, there has always been one painting in the gallery that is covered up during final exams. I went into the gallery one day to see the painting; it is a portrait of a British nobleman from the 19th century. It is utterly unremarkable except for the fact that his eyes stare straight back at you - the kind of painting that follows you wherever you move.

The only certainty in this story that I can vouch for is that every year hundreds of students shuffle into the hall to take their final exams and try, against all instincts and urges, to keep from continuously glancing up at the British flag hanging from the wall above them.

12 comments:

  1. WOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !!!!!!!

    I HAZ HEARDZ O'H THIZ!

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  2. Then who was painting?

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  3. WHO WAS GUY WHO DIED?!

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    Replies
    1. Either a black guy, or a person.

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  4. Welp, you can tell whoever wrote this wasn't actually from Britain. For a start, Britain doesn't have its own flag. There's a Union Jack which is the flag of the entire UK or individual flags for each country inside it.

    Secondly, why not name the university. There's only one major art uni in London, so why not just name it? Seriously. Google is your friend.

    Thirdly, this pasta wasn't very tasty at all. Poor and little flavouring.

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  5. ^ I agree with this Anon, this was indeed one African American of a story, just as Anon implied.

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  6. This is a real painting. I remember seeing a tv show where they talked about it. I think he was an English lord and they do indeed cover it up when students go there to do an exam. I can't remember if someone died from staring at it, but people are freaked out by the eyes following them. I didn't think he looked that scary, but I guess maybe some people would did.

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    1. I actually took a trip to England earlier this year and my cousin's friend attended this very university and I saw this painting...I dunno it kinda seemed like it could be unsettling to me in absolute silence but with people around it didn't seem scary, I actually took a pic of it since as Aurelia said, I heard they sometimes cover it up, but it's nothing really noteworthy:
      http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1614/britishpainting.png
      I've seen much scarier sights...like shits I sometimes take, THOSE can be monstrous, but this? Not really.

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  7. ^^do not do the link above it's my little porny!

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    Replies
    1. LIES! This is another attempt by LIBERALS to disenfranchise multi-billionaires! Click the link for AMURRKA!!! Otherwise, terrorists win, as well as other types of black people.

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