The Mysteries of the Horizon (1955) is an oil on canvas

Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

 painting by the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 surrealist René Magritte

René Magritte

René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...

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The painting depicts three seemingly identical men in bowler hat

Bowler hat

The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...

s. They are in an outdoor setting at twilight. Though they appear to be sharing the same space each one also seems to exist in a separate reality. Each is facing a different direction. In the sky above each figure is a separate crescent moon.

Men in bowler hats have appeared frequently in Magritte's work since his 1926 painting The Musings of a Solitary Walker. They are represented as having undefined or identical personalities.