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The Secret (a treasure hunt) / Image 12
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Image 12

This version was saved 8 years, 9 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Oregonian
on June 19, 2015 at 10:09:58 am
 

Replaced two Ellis Island pictures that have been taken off Flickr.

General notes on Image 12

  • This is the image for November and the immigration reference is to Russia.
  • This image is thought to be linked to Verse 10 and a casque in the New York City area.
  • Please note: This image contains several visual references to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.  Both sites are important historical landmarks where treasure hunting is completely prohibited.  There is no chance that the New York casque is buried at either of these sites, and attempting a dig on either island would very likely result in serious criminal charges.  Please don't even attempt it.  The visual references to these two islands in Image 12 strongly suggest that one should see the islands on the way to an ultimate destination in a less sensitive spot somewhere on the perimeter of the New York harbor.

 

 

 

Image 12

 

Specific Observations

  Please record your notes about this image in the list below.  Use the letter/number grid to identify the point on the image that you're describing.  To keep things organized, 1) please start each observation with a letter/number combo (in bold), and 2) add new observations in the right place on the list to keep everything alphabetized.

  • A4 - The bird's right wing appears to form a "3" at the uppermost tip.
  • B5 - In the gap between the ends of the bird's wings, where we should see the edge of the window, we only see the wall.
  • C3, C6, & C7 - The colored dot patterns are similar to those used in the Ishihara test for color blindness.
  • C6 - The head of the bird is similar to at least two monuments in the New York area (see below).
  • D3 - The doorway could represent Ellis Island, the doorway to America.
  • D4 - The dark rectangle could be the World Trade Center (completed in 1973 and destroyed in 2001) or it could be the berth where ships docked at Ellis Island.
  • D5 - The building shown as an outline has the onion domes that are commonly (but not exclusively) found on Russian Orthodox churches.  They could also be a match for the spires on the main building at Ellis Island (see below).
  • D6 - The face is a good match for the face on the Statue of Liberty (see below).
  • D7 - The time on the clock is 11:00, indicating the month of November.
  • F4 - The flower is a chrysanthemum, the birth flower for November.
  • J5, K6, J7 & K7 - The small shapes below the dress could represent the three small islands just below lower Manhattan: Ellis Island, Liberty Island, and Governors Island.  There isn't an obvious match for the fourth shape.
  • J6 - The distinctive shape formed by the bottom of the dress could be a match for the shoreline of either Manhattan or Staten Island (see below).
  • K6 - The jewel is a topaz, the birth stone for November.
  • L3 - There appears to be a lion or some other animal in the waves (see below).
  • M3 to M8 - A breaking wave forms a ridge of water.  If the wave is in a bay, it could be considered a "bay ridge," possibly in reference to that neighborhood in Brooklyn.
  • O6 - There appears to be a "74" in the water (see below).

 

 

Other Notes: 

  • This final image is stylistically paired in several ways with the first image, Image 1.  They are the only two paintings in The Secret to have the a narrow shape with a rounded top.  In additions, Image 1 features a dragon and this image possibly includes the legendary dragon-slayer Saint George (see below).
  • The nose on the female figure in this image is directly above the jewel.  The vertical line that passes through the nose and jewel in this image is exactly the same line that passes through the nose and jewel in Image 1
  • By combining the longitude (74) and the visual references to the Statue of Liberty, we can direct this search to the New York metropolitan area.  The images of breaking waves and islands in a sea of blue suggest that we should focus on the area around New York Bay.  There are at least three strong references to Ellis Island in the picture, but Ellis is north of Liberty Island and would not allow visitors to "gaze north to the isle of B."  If "isle of B." is Liberty Island, we should be somewhere south of that in New York Bay.  A line heading directly south of Liberty Island would pass under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and head out to sea without ever hitting land, but presumably "north" is meant more as a general direction.  The combination of evidence suggests that we should be looking for a place near the waterfront, in either Brooklyn or Staten Island, where one could have a view northwards to the Statue of Liberty.
  • For historic aerial views of New York City, try using NYCityMap. For historical photos of New York City, try using the Photo Gallery of the NYC Department of Records.  ("The online gallery now totals more than 900,000--the largest collection of historical images of New York City in the world.")
  • The fourth "island" beneath her dress may be Belmont island, which could be the island of b, mentioned in the tenth riddle. Belmont island is also north of the other three islands. 

 

 

 

Image Matches

The face is a very strong match for the Statue of Liberty.  Note the turn of the head, the parted hair, the broad forehead that shades the eyes, the long straight nose, and the pursed lips with the slight frown.

 

Statue of Liberty image by calestyo on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License

 

 

 


The bird is similar to the iconic sculptures on the Chrysler Building.
The bird is an even better match to the stone birds on top of the Ferry Building at Ellis Island.  (Note the longer beak, the lack of an overbite, and the open mouth with a visible tongue.)
 
The blue spires shown in profile are a reasonable match for the domes at the four corners of the main building at Ellis Island.
 
Ellis Island by Anita363, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic License   by Anita363
The arched panels at the top of the picture could be a representation of the windows in the buildings at Ellis Island.  Several of the Ellis windows are arched, although none of them are a perfect match for the shapes in the picture. 
New York Pictures - Part 1 till December by Jeff Summers, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License   by Jeff Summers
Ellis Island window by dlm7155, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License   by dlm7155
Ellis Island Immigration Station Façade by AndrewHavis, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic License   by AndrewHavis
The gray rectangle at the top is a very strong match for the channel where ships once docked at Ellis Island.  The channel currently even has the same red outline around it, although it isn't yet known whether that feature is a new addition or was present in 1980.

There appears to be the face of a lion or some other animal hidden in the wrinkles of the woman's dress. 

 

The image on the left shows the dress as it appears in the original, with only half the "face" showing. 

 

The image on the right shows the same dress segment with a reflection added down the middle of the "face" so both halves are shown.


The lower part of the dress is often assumed to be a representation of the southern tip of Manhattan, but it is actually a closer match to the northern tip of Staten Island rotated 180 degrees. 

 

Start at the upper left corner of the dress and the Staten Island image and imagine it as a driver: long straight, sharp left turn, short straight, broad right turn, straight, broad U-turn at the lowest point, shallow bulge to the right and back, another shallow bulge to the right followed by a left turn and a long straightaway.

The crashing waves at the lower left appear to form a clawed, upright animal facing sideways, similar to the design of the lion in the Royal Standard of Scotland.  This might connect to the possible reference to Sir Walter Scott in Verse 10.

The other bit of crashing foam, to the right of the lion, is almost certainly another representation of something important.  One interpretation is that it shows a plumed knight on a rearing white horse.  If so, the figure would very likely be Saint George, who rode on a white horse to slay a dragon.  The representation of St. George in the final painting of the book would be a symbolic counterpoint to the representation of a dragon in Image 1.

 

The painting at far right is St. George and the Dragon by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted sometime around 1504 and is now housed in the Louvre in Paris.

 

 

Latitude / Longitude Hints

 

There appears to be a "74" in the waves below the woman's dress.  The line for 74 degrees west (longitude) runs through lower Manhatten and Brooklyn.  The Statue of Liberty is only slightly further west at 74.04 degrees.
 
The latitude of New York City ranges from 40.5 to 40.9 degrees north, but there do not appear to be any hints about latitude in the image.  There is a very clear "3" at the tip of the bird's wing, but that number by itself would make no sense as either a latitude or longitude.
 
Some people have suggested that the shape above the "74" could be a number of some kind, but it it more likely to be a representation of the Eye of Horus, similar to ones seen in some of the other images.

 

 

 

Questions, questions, questions...

  • Does the dock area at Ellis Island actually have that red outline on all three sides?
  • Did the dock area have the same red outline in 1980?

 

 

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