“Edvard Munch’s masterpiece The Scream has become a world icon of human anxiety, appearing on everything from T-shirts to blow-up dolls and causing endless debate among art experts. But what exactly is the surreal figure doing in the painting, with hands pressed to its head and open mouth: Screaming, or hearing a scream?” Munch himself described the moment that inspired the painting as a “scream from nature,” and the figure in the painting appears to be covering his ears, as if to block out a scream, but most people believe that the figure is the one doing the screaming.