[WorldUrbanLegend] The Crying Boy
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced artwork featuring a painting by the Italian artist Giovanni Bragolin (1911–1981). This is a pseudonym of the painter Bruno Amari. It became widely distributed from the 1950s.
There are several alternative versions of The Crying Boy, all depicting a portrait of a crying boy or girl. In addition to its widespread recognition, there are urban legends associated with this painting.
On September 5, 1985, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun reported that firefighters in Essex frequently found undamaged versions of the painting among the ruins of burned houses. By the end of November, the belief in the painting's curse had spread widely, and The Sun organized a large-scale bonfire to collect the paintings sent in by readers.
British writer and comedian Steve Punt investigated this curse in an episode of BBC Radio 4's Punt PI, which first aired on October 9, 2010. The program concluded that the prints were treated with a varnish containing flammable components, and that the strings used to hang the painting would deteriorate first, causing the painting to fall and be protected on the floor.
Journalist David Clarke noted that in Tom Slemen's 2000 book, the child's name began to be mentioned as Don Bonillo or Diablo. He stated that these claims were entirely unfounded and related to several fires, including the artist's studio.
