Item #: SCP-7584

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-7584 is to be stored in Collection Vault 4 at Site-109, a specialised containment unit used by the Anart History department which monitors and automatically balances humidity and temperature for optimal long term storage. All non-anomalous instances can be viewed with approval from a junior member of Anart History staff. Anomalous instances require approval from Dr Moorthy.

Description: SCP-7584 is the collective designation for 505 artworks. SCP-7584 apparently originates from the “Ten-Tongue Empire”, a seemingly non-existent nation state dominant in central Europe during the “latter stages of the Era of Names and throughout the entirety of the Era of Holes1.” The legitimacy of SCP-7584 remains unconfirmed. Whilst the majority of objects within the collection are mundane artworks, many SCP-7584 instances display anomalous properties. However, these instances typically fall within the acceptable boundaries of a Safe-class designation.

SCP-7584 was discovered at the Statens Museum for Kunst2 during the construction of its new extension. Sections of the original gallery were closed off and the artworks within loaned to other museums for the duration of construction. On 04/07/1998, security staff discovered that a member of the overnight security team had vanished, and that the sections emptied for the renovations had been filled with SCP-7584. The works were accompanied by several infographic displays and museum labels, referred to as SCP-7584-1. SCP-7584-1 instances are written in both Danish and English, and indicate that SCP-7584 instances were part of an exhibit on the history of artistic movements within the “Ten-Tongue Empire.” Apart from the circumstances of their manifestation, SCP-7584-1 instances are non-anomalous. Embedded agents within local law enforcement were able to establish containment, and the artworks were transported to the Anart History department at Site-109.

SCP-7584 research is currently focused on determining its origin. Several theories have been put forward by Anart History researchers.

- “SCP-7584 originates from a parallel universe to our own, with a diverging history.” - Researcher Maxwell.

- “SCP-7584 comes from a forgotten part of human history, which was erased during a CK-Class Restructuring Scenario” - Researcher Sydney

- “SCP-7584 was created by an Anart group to waste Foundation time and resources by preying on our organisation’s inherent paranoia.” - Dr Moorthy

The following are a selection of particularly noteworthy items from the SCP-7584 collection and their accompanying SCP-7584-1 instances. More complete documentation is available from Dr Moorthy upon request.

Item #208 “The Duke’s Retort”

Label: Retort is typical of artwork from the late Era of Names, focusing on literalistic depictions of events, but Müller’s iconic depiction of the Writhing Duke’s sack of Athens makes particularly effective use of chiaroscuro3and serves as an important historical example of art as propaganda. The Duke famously gifted works depicting its great victories to close political rivals. The screams of the Philosopher Kings as they burned would have served as an effective reminder of the Duke’s wrathful temper.

Description: The scene is set in front of the Parthenon at night. A pyre has been lit, and several bearded men dressed in red togas are tied to it. A group of soldiers are feasting around the burning figures, jeering and insulting them. Sat at the centre of the image, with its back to the viewer, is a figure dressed in a uniform closely resembling that of 18th century Prussian military officers. The item’s anomalous properties manifest upon being viewed, as the scene begins to animate. The burning figures cries’ of pain can be heard, as can the jeers of the soldiers. Viewers often report the smell of burning flesh, although no physical evidence of burning matter has been detected during tests. Despite the fact that the central figure remains stationary and its face therefore remains hidden, a significant proportion of viewers describe it as ‘grinning ear to ear’.

Item #5 “Tutelage at Pont-Avens”

Label: Coinciding with the Duke’s ascension to the throne and the beginning of the Era of Holes was a greater acceptance of oddities within society. Avant-garde artists were among the first to explore this new frontier of culture and science. This meta-visual piece by Muhat Rijp caused a great stir when first presented at the Salon d’étrange, and reports of nausea and fainting occupied many local papers at the time. Whilst contemporary critics accused Rijp of focusing on gimmicks over actual artistic merit, Tutelage is widely regarded as the one of the first examples of a filmic narrative and has secured its place in art canon.

Description: A dark-skinned man, bearded and dressed in flowing, light-pink robes stands in an artist studio, instructing a class of young pupils on painting techniques. The style is roughly analogous to non-anomalous impressionism. The object’s anomalous properties manifest when a subject views it for over twenty seconds and then closes their eyes. This creates a temporary, if vivid, hallucination, whereby the viewer perceives themselves inside the studio depicted in the painting. The three-dimensional environment takes on a similar appearance as the original artwork, with objects and entities within appearing to be made out of solid paint. The entities can be interacted with as if they were physical, but do not respond to external stimuli. These entities are fully animate within this hallucination, and the central figure continues to deliver its lecture. However, this lecture is in a currently unknown language. Collaboration with the Paralinguistics department is ongoing.

Item #421 ”Abbess at The Convent of Five Humours.”

Label: A portrait of the then-Abbess Abigail Marten. The Five Humours Convent experienced a resurgence of political and spiritual relevance during the Era of Holes, as the Abbess became a darling of the Ducal Court. Rumour at the time maintained that the Abbess was one of the few people on the continent that the Duke respected, which is impressive considering its capricious nature. This portrait of the Abbess hung in the chapel of the Convent, until it was stolen during its destruction. It was thought lost until many years later when it was found in a private collection. The Abbess was a firm believer in the spiritual potency of human hair cuttings, and braided hair became a popular item amongst those looking to gain the Duke’s favour whilst the Abbess held influence in court.

Description: The item depicts a middle-aged woman dressed in a nun's habit. Her facial expression and general demeanour is stern and has been described as upsetting by many viewers. This is not currently thought to be anomalous. She holds one hand aloft, from which dangles a rosary. The thread seems to be woven out of hair. Her left arm is placed over her heart. A web of scar tissue covers the back of this hand, seemingly in a specific pattern. Whether this was an intentional work of body modification, as well as its possible cultural relevance, remains unknown. The woman is seated in front of a stained glass window, split into five even portions. Four of the portions seem to correspond to classical humoral theory4, whilst a fifth shows a glowing golden substance pouring forth from the mouth and eyes of a crucified Jesus Christ.

Item #115 “A feast fit for worms”

Label: Canap was a pioneer of gefährliche kunst5 This work was reportedly commissioned by the Graf of Königsberg, an infamous glutton, to serve as a tool for his lavish banquets. The visual oddity contained within the work was intended to inspire intense hunger in its audience, allowing them to continue eating and enjoy the banquet for as long as they so desired. It is not known whether the secondary effect of this work was a result of poor workmanship or malicious intent on the part of Canap, although the title of this feast would suggest a distaste for his client. Either way, the aftermath of the so-called ‘Bloody Feast of Königsberg’ saw Canap exsanguinated in front of the Ducal Court. The oddity has since lost much of its potency, and is now safe for public viewing.

Description: The piece is a large sculpture, cast in bronze with painted highlights. A central figure is surrounding by a circular table, with towering platters of meats, fruits and cheeses atop it. The figure is highly obese, and is in the midst of consuming food from the table around it. Small cherubic creatures with insectoid features crawl across the figures body. Viewing the item causes a mild sensation of hunger that fades when it is no longer in view.

Item #195 “Cigar case in Ducal style - Mid-EoH”

Label: With the growing public knowledge of oddities, artisans began to incorporate them into their work. This Objet D’art was likely a commission from the Schäfer workshop, indicated by their manufacturer's mark, a mountain range with an open eye. This would serve as an open sign that the owner of this object was in the know, and could be approached on occult matters. The cigars inside are packed with specially prepared papers, soaked in the first rain of spring and then dried in a suitably sanctified chamber. The passing of the seasons is a time of change and opposition, where the membrane of the world thins and can be pierced, with the right tools.

Description: An ornate cigar case constructed out of mahogany and embellished with an ivory inlay. Inside were seven cigars, with one having been used for testing. The cigar label is a deep purple, inscribed with Sanskrit text which roughly translates to “Forged in Hyderabad.” Testing has shown that the smoke from these cigars caused a minor decrease in local Hume levels. The D-Class used in the above test reported auditory hallucinations of mechanical sounds akin to a key in a door.

Item #519 ”Stillbirth”

Label: Agatha Clemens' ‘Dreaming Period’ produced some of her best work. When she returned to the Empire after a long stay at a Mongolian mountain resort, an exhibition was put on of the prolific work she had produced during this time. We feel that her own words describe the intention behind this piece best:

“I awoke amongst the reeds. My body felt leaden, and my feet were sunk into the riverbed. I was hidden from view, and I bore witness to something that I should not have. A boat was passing downstream, her occupant hidden under veils. Strange utterances ripped from it. I could not understand its words, they were too crunchy and caught in my throat. But the emotion was clear. Grief. Loss. Something ripped from it. When I woke for the second time that night, my cheeks were wet with tears.”

Description: A shadowed figure stands next to a river. It is not reflected in the water. The scene is dark, and the river plants seem to glow. Saline fluid constantly manifests in the space around the piece, which is damp to the touch. These puddles will constantly dry and remanifest, rapidly creating hollow, egg-shaped salt formations.

Item #25 “The People storm Hell's gates”

Label: Painted by an unknown artist who was placed under Imperial Censure by the Interdictorial Commission. When the Freshet Revolt6 began, its cause was taken up by the artistic and cultural community of Paris. Propaganda pieces such as this were common at the time, and served as a means of recruitment and maintaining morale for the duration of the revolt. However, these pieces ultimately proved to be the downfall of their creators, as when the Revolt was quashed by the newly purchased hordes of the Sunset Prince, his government set about censuring its opponents. Artists such as this anonymous creator had their names stricken from historical records. Note the Forgetterance of its key figures. The People is significant in that it actually survived this period of censure, as most works of its kind were ultimately destroyed by the Commission when the Sunset Prince sold his kingdom to the Writhing Duke.

Description: This piece is ostensibly non-anomalous. It depicts a group of people, of varying age and appearance, storming a luxurious palace whilst engaging in combat with a mass of entities dressed in ill-fitting blue military uniforms. The uniformed entities are clearly non-human. Their pale skin appears to have no natural orifices, with objects similar in appearance to speaker grilles protruding from their mouths, and black lenses from their eye sockets. A male, dressed in opulent robes and bearing a bejewelled sceptre, stands on a palace balcony, surveying the scene. A shadowed figure stands behind him, barely visible from the viewer’s perspective. The revolutionaries in the painting have had their faces obscured, as select pieces of the canvas are tarred with an unknown substance. This substance is also present in the bottom right corner of the work, where the artist's signature would traditionally be located. Attempts to restore the original painting have been unsuccessful, as the substance obscuring the subject’s faces is resistant to all currently tested forms of paint removal.

Item #152 ”Commission Suppression Poster - Late EoH”

Label: The popularisation of oddities throughout the empire often caused excessive outpourings of Luminescence, particularly amongst artistic communities. After Milan was subsumed, the Interdictorial Commission was tasked with identifying and preventing outbreaks before they occurred. Graphic designer Sara Antoni worked closely with the Commission on this campaign, and her work became well known throughout the empire. Her insistence on accurately portraying her subjects is displayed here. The rapturous glory on this outbreak victim's face was particularly effective.

Description: A non-anomalous poster. The image shows a man, being escorted by two figures. Beams of light are emerging from each of his orifices. The figures, dressed in what appear to be hazmat suits fashioned out of leather and fabric, have the man by the arms and are walking him away. Text on the top and bottom of the poster reads: “Don’t be the Hole in our defence! Citizens of the empire! If you, a family member or acquaintance begins to manifest a light behind the eyes, or notice a Luminescence pouring forth from the nose or mouth, alert a member of the Interdictorial Commission immediately.”

Item #1 ”Self-portrait (untitled)”

Label: The label on this piece has been highly damaged. The phrase “May it never return” is legible, but the rest of its content is unrecognisable.

Description: The object is a highly photo-realistic portrait. The subject is a middle-aged man, wearing a security guard’s uniform, and holding a flash-light. His eyes are closed, and his face is stretched into a wide grin. There are various lumps and bulges under his skin. Whilst no instances of movement has been recorded as of yet, viewers frequently claim that these deformations writhe when viewed from the edge of their vision.

Footnotes

1. According to SCP-7584-1

2. Denmark’s national art gallery.

3. An artistic style focusing on the interplay of light and shadow.

4. The unscientific notion that human health and personality is influenced by imbalances in levels of the ‘four humours’; blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.

5. Translates to ‘dangerous art’. Original context unknown.

6. A Freshet typically refers to a temporary rise in a river’s water level due to melting snow in spring. The context in this case is unknown.