0:02 In 1888, one of the most renowned chess
0:04 players of the 19th century saw this
0:07 painting and noticed something strange.
0:10 Its title was the devil's checkmate. But
0:13 to him, that didn't seem quite right.
0:15 The scene shows a young man playing
0:17 chess against the devil while an angel
0:19 watches silently. The white pieces are
0:21 cornered. It looks like there's nothing
0:24 left to do. For years, everyone assumed
0:26 the same thing. The devil was about to
0:29 win the game. But Paul Morphy saw
0:31 something no one else had noticed. After
0:34 analyzing the position, he simply said,
0:37 "The king has one more move. The game
0:39 wasn't lost." And this painting had
0:42 fooled everyone for a very long time.
0:45 The idea of a man facing the devil in
0:47 the game of chess has appeared many
0:49 times in film and literature. One of the
0:51 most well-known examples is The Seventh
0:54 Seal, the film by Ingmar Bergman, where
0:56 a knight plays chess with death to gain
0:58 time and meaning before the end. But
1:00 this painting is much older. It was
1:05 created in 1831, almost 130 years before
1:07 that movie. At the time, Europe was
1:10 fully immersed in the romantic era, an
1:12 artistic and cultural movement that
1:15 didn't focus on flawless heroes, but on
1:17 inner conflict, intense emotions, and
1:20 moral dilemas. Themes like good and
1:23 evil, the soul, temptation, and destiny
1:25 were everywhere. It was a time when
1:27 artists didn't just want to show beauty.
1:30 They wanted to teach something. Moritz
1:32 Wretch, the artist behind this painting,
1:34 didn't create it on commission or to
1:37 decorate a room. He painted it because
1:39 he felt he had something to say,
1:41 something urgent. Wretch was fascinated
1:44 by the big human questions. He believed
1:47 art should speak directly to the soul.
1:48 And in this scene of the young man
1:50 playing against the devil, what he's
1:52 truly portraying isn't just a chess
1:55 match. It's life itself. A life where
1:58 every decision matters. where temptation
2:00 is always close and where even when
2:03 everything seems lost, there might still
2:05 be one more move.
2:08 For a long time, everyone who looked at
2:09 this painting came to the same
2:12 conclusion. The young man had already
2:14 lost the game. And it wasn't a
2:16 far-fetched interpretation. If you look
2:18 closely, everything in the scene
2:21 suggests it. On the right, the young man
2:23 sits with his head tilted down, his face
2:26 buried in one hand. He's completely
2:28 devastated. You can tell he's trapped in
2:30 his thoughts trying to understand how he
2:32 ended up in this position. It looks like
2:34 he's been checkmated. Or at least that's
2:36 what the painting's title leads us to
2:39 believe. But that despair doesn't come
2:41 from losing a simple game. It comes from
2:43 something deeper. Because what's at
2:46 stake here isn't victory. It's his soul.
2:49 In front of him on the left side is his
2:52 opponent, Satan. He sits with a relaxed,
2:55 almost arrogant posture. His head rests
2:57 on one hand and he doesn't even look at
2:59 the board. He's confident the win is
3:02 his. And right between them, slightly in
3:04 the background, is the angel, the most
3:07 mysterious figure. It doesn't intervene,
3:10 doesn't give any signal, just watches as
3:12 if it believes the game is already lost,
3:15 yet can do nothing to stop it. But we'll
3:16 come back to this figure later, because
3:19 in my opinion, it holds the key to the
3:22 painting's meaning. For years, no one
3:24 questioned the obvious interpretation of
3:27 this scene. The man had lost and Satan
3:30 was claiming his soul until Paul Morphe
3:32 came along. It happened in Richmond,
3:34 Virginia, while Morphe was visiting
3:37 Reverend RR Harrison. There he saw a
3:39 copy of the painting prominently
3:42 displayed. He examined it carefully and
3:44 after studying it for a while, became
3:45 intrigued by the position on the
3:47 chessboard. Without pointing out
3:50 anything specific, he suggested there
3:51 might still be a winning move for the
3:54 young man. The reverend was skeptical,
3:56 but they set up a real chessboard,
3:58 replicating the scene from the painting.
4:01 According to witnesses, Morphe developed
4:03 a sequence of moves that allowed the
4:05 young man to win. A move no one had seen
4:08 before. That reinterpretation completely
4:10 changed the way people viewed the
4:13 painting. The story I'm telling you was
4:16 first published on August 18th, 1888 in
4:19 the Colombia Chess Chronicle under an
4:22 article titled Anecdote of Morphe. And
4:24 Reverend Harrison later confirmed he was
4:26 the source of the account. From that
4:28 point on, what once seemed like an image
4:32 of defeat became a symbol of hope. And
4:34 maybe you didn't notice it, but in this
4:36 painting, the chest pieces aren't just
4:38 pieces. Each one represents something
4:41 deeper. This isn't an ordinary chess
4:44 match. Remember, what's at stake here is
4:47 a man's soul. The black pieces on
4:50 Satan's side embody vices, doubts, and
4:53 temptations. If you look closely, you'll
4:55 find unsettling details like this piece
4:57 stepping on a cross as if trying to
5:00 crush faith, or this other one that
5:02 seems to be hiding a dagger, something
5:04 we might interpret as betrayal. What's
5:06 clear is that these are no ordinary
5:08 chess pieces. Each one is deliberately
5:11 designed to symbolize something. On the
5:13 other side, the white pieces might
5:15 represent virtues, values the young man
5:18 has gradually lost with every move. Some
5:20 have already been taken off the board as
5:22 if life has slowly stripped him of
5:24 everything that once made him strong.
5:27 What's fascinating about this painting
5:28 is that it doesn't show the devil's
5:31 victory. It captures the exact moment
5:34 before when all seems lost. But
5:36 technically, the game isn't over. just
5:38 one move away from losing it all, just
5:40 like Morphe discovered. But there's
5:42 another interpretation that's just as
5:45 compelling, and it has to do with the
5:47 angel in the scene. And I promise you,
5:49 it will completely change the way you
5:51 see this painting. But before I tell you
5:54 about it, I want to remind you that if
5:55 you'd like to have this artwork in your
5:57 collection, it's now available on our
6:00 website. You can order it in the size
6:02 and finish you prefer. And you'll also
6:05 find over 600 historical works just as
6:07 fascinating as this one. So you can have
6:09 a piece of art in your home that will
6:11 last a lifetime. By purchasing this
6:14 painting or any from the catalog, you'll
6:16 be supporting my work and helping me
6:18 continue creating videos like this one.
6:20 I'll leave the link in the description
6:22 so you can browse the full collection
6:25 once the video is over. Now then, let's
6:28 continue. For a long time, I thought the
6:29 angel was there to protect the young
6:32 man, like a silent guide. But if you pay
6:34 close attention, he's not looking at
6:36 him. And he's not looking at the devil
6:39 either. He's staring directly at the
6:41 center of the board. And that made me
6:43 think, maybe he's not there to
6:45 intervene, but simply to observe, as if
6:48 he represents the freedom we all have,
6:50 the freedom to choose. If you really
6:52 think about it, the angel doesn't make
6:55 the decision. The young man does. And
6:57 interestingly, the devil isn't looking
6:59 at the board either. He's watching the
7:02 young man as if he knows there's a move
7:04 that could save him, but he's waiting
7:06 for him not to see it. He's waiting for
7:08 him to give up on his own. And that, I
7:10 believe, is the true message of this
7:12 painting. That even when everything
7:15 seems lost, the game isn't over. That
7:18 sometimes all evil needs to win is for
7:20 us to stop trying. But as long as we
7:22 still have a chance, no matter how
7:25 small, there's something we can do. I
7:26 don't know if you agree with this
7:28 interpretation, but I'd love to hear
7:30 your thoughts in the comments. And
7:32 before I wrap up, there's one detail I
7:34 don't want to overlook. There's a spider
7:36 near the board. It might seem like a
7:38 meaningless decoration, but given the
7:40 message of this painting, I seriously
7:43 doubt that. I'm sure it holds a deeper
7:45 meaning. I'd love for you to help me
7:47 figure it out in the comments. As
7:49 always, thank you for watching until the
7:52 end. If you enjoyed it, don't forget to
7:54 leave a like and subscribe so you don't
7:57 miss more videos like this one. See you
