Minecraft has added new paintings for the first time in over a decade

From the outside, it may seem strange the things Minecraft fans get excited about, but those of us in the know will understand that new official paintings are a big deal for the latest update. Set to be added in an upcoming snapshot and made official in version 1.21, these five new paintings will let you add a bit more variety to your walls.

What’s more, is that there are some deep-cut references included here, so we’ll show you what every painting looks like and their origins.

Unpacked

This is the one the community is most excited about, as it is a pixelated version of a very important image. The base image used, known as “pack.png”, was the cover image for the default Minecraft texture pack for many years.

This in-game screenshot of a grassy hill in front of a river was a fascination of the community for a long time, as an exhaustive search was conducted over the years to discover the seed that was used to take this screenshot and discover it in-game. Their efforts are now immortalized by this iconic image added as a painting.

Humble

This painting may be a bit unnerving to put on your wall, but that’s kind of the point. This painting featuring two Villagers in front of a house is a parody of the famous American Gothic painting by Grant Wood. While this isn’t the first painting in Minecraft to be based on a famous work of art, it is certainly the most direct parody the team has produced to date.

Baroque

There is no questioning the influences of this one, as it’s right there in the name. Baroque painting is a style that spans from the 17th to 18th century. While many Baroque paintings depict historical events or figures, this one instead goes for three simple objects: a decorated pot, a cake, and a yellow flower.

Prairie Horse

This 1x2 painting will fit any narrow vertical spaces you have in your home and depicts a carefree adventurer strutting around the desert on their horse. This too is a parody of a famous painting by the name of The Cowboy, painted by Frederick Remington.

Meditative

This small 1x1 painting is simultaneously a parody of a famous work of art, and a reference to Minecraft’s past. This painting shares a resemblance to Salvador Dali’s Meditative Rose but with one crucial change. Unlike Dali’s version, the rose in this painting has a stem, which serves as a reference to the Rose flower that used to exist in Minecraft but was replaced with the Red Poppy at a later date.