Warsaw museum reveals ‘mystery’ behind ‘Oscars’ painting

Despite Poland leaving the Oscars empty-handed, a Polish twist on the glitzy Hollywood gala made the headlines, not for any award-winning performances, but for a painting.

An image hanging on a door in a key scene in the seven-Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once had Reddit users scratching their heads about what exactly it was.

The baroque painting shows a Welsh Spaniel hunting dog grasping the leg of a heron with its teeth.Public domain

It turns out that it was a painting at Warsaw’s National Museum that had caught the attention of the world.

The work in question is "Dog fighting a heron" from 1667 by Dutch artist Abraham Hondius.

Staff from the museum posted clip on TikTok and Instagram with an overlay of Nicholas Cage below the caption: “People on Reddit wondering what painting appears in Everything All at Once.”National museum Warsaw

A copy of the work appears in several scenes on a built-in secret door in the study where Evelyn, played by Michelle Yeoh, cleans.

The baroque painting shows a Welsh Spaniel hunting dog grasping the leg of a heron with its teeth.

"What is this image?" asked users on Reddit. Staff from the museum were quick to respond and did so in an amusing way by posting on TikTok and Instagram informing their followers that the original painting in fact hangs in the museum in the Gallery of Ancient Art.

The clip then shows an image of Pedro Pascal taken from the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent laughing under the caption: “Me knowing that you can see it at the National Museum in Warsaw.”National museum Warsaw

“People on Reddit wondering what painting appears in Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the museum wrote in a caption on its TikTok video, which featured an overlay of Nicholas Cage and Pedro Pascal taken from the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

The museum ended their video with a photo of Pedro Pascal laughing under the caption: “Me knowing that you can see it at the National Museum in Warsaw.”

The reality-bending action comedy-drama received 11 nominations that finally converted into seven statuettes.