What's the title of the large painting in the Matrix 2 chateau fight?

July 29, 2017 7:22 PM

On the bottom floor of the Chateau in The Matrix Reloaded, there is a large painting with a central M inside a circle in the upper center, surrounded by possibly the forces of heaven battling soldiers on horses, in possibly black and white. What is the title of this painting, and who is it credited to?

Examples one (main header image for this article), two (shown behind Monica Belluci in item No.2 of this list), three (video, first frame in the background and variously throughout clip).

posted by Quarter Pincher to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Well, I can at least give you this, about the Merovingian's crest, from an interview with Cindi Knapton, Assistant Art Director:

"There were also things like the Merovingian’s logo. I made a stab at it thinking, big M, big guy, big ego. When Owen saw it he wanted more frills, so we got some swords, we got some more frills and I put a crown on it because I thought he thinks he’s the king of everything. I put all that on there, not thinking about it consciously, and I saw a show on Napoleon two weeks later and saw that was where I got it from; Napoleon was just an N with the laurel leaves. The Brothers liked it, but it was a shot in the dark, a guess after looking at the Chateau and knowing a little bit about the history."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:59 PM on July 29, 2017

...and a bit later, same interview: "You can see that in the mural at the back where we’ve got the big M at the top of the mural in heaven, puppeteering the angels who are puppeteering the little people, you and I, down here slogging it out in the mud."
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:21 PM on July 29, 2017