The White Lotus currently broadcasting its second season after the staggering success of the first, sees another group of wealthy and privileged tourists return, this time to Italy for a mysterious series of events and some comedic moments that are both funny and disturbing. The popular HBO original series follows the lives of locals and tourists alike, and contains a lot of symbolism that hints at the tragic ending we get a glimpse of at the start of the season.
There is a lot of visual iconography everywhere The White Lotus Season 2, and we can see how these images are linked to the characters on screen. Between the Italian Renaissance-style art in the credits and the sculptures found throughout the hotel, there are clear clues in the pieces we see on screen. Here’s an overview of the art in it The White Lotus season 2.
The Italian statues in the hotel
Season 2 of The White Lotus has been heavy with art references throughout. The White Lotus resort itself is set up with a lot of artwork, which may seem insignificant at first glance, but we quickly learn that in The White Lotus, it is very rare for something to happen by accident. We see references to images at the beginning of the series with explanations that seem to be foreshadowed. We learn that the colorful dots around the White Lotus hotel are actually rooted in 11th century Italian history.
This history is rooted in the story of Testa Di Moro, which reads: Moor seduced a local girl, but she soon found out that he had a wife and children at home. She becomes jealous and furious and decapitates him as a result, turning his head into a clay pot so that he can stay with her forever. The pots in the hotel are reminiscent of this, and this is interesting given the themes of possessive love explored in the series. Daphne jokingly warns that this is a story where spouses decline to “not mess it up,” and this definitely seems like a warning of things to come.
There is a second reference to statues when Harper and Ethan are in bed, in the premiere episode, and she talks about an encounter she had with Cameron earlier in the day – the scene that made Theo James goes viral – she thought that was strange; however, after Ethan assures her that the meeting wasn’t weird, Harper lets it go and they go to sleep. The couple can hear Cameron and Daphne in the other room, and Ethan takes a long look at the Testa di Moro statue in their room. Now that we know the context of the ending and the betrayal he faces, the reference to the statue in this scene is particularly important.
Art in the credits
The opening credits of The White Lotus Season 2 was a hit with fans, and the theme song was an instant viral sensation. The show’s credits were created by Mark Bashore and Katrina Crawford, who said that every second of the credits was an opportunity to tell the show’s story (via Mashable), and each frame spoke to characters in some way. Each credit depicts a different artistic image for different characters, who have a direct relationship to their on-screen persona and how their stories will unfold. This is another example of how obvious there is nothing in it The White Lotus happens accidentally.
For example, Jennifer Coolidge’s title card depicts a woman clinging to a chained monkey, which art history has attributed to men trapped in their own sexuality. Coolidge’s character seeks sexual affirmation from her husband, while also seeking the lavish life of the men who take her on extravagant excursions, showing her attraction to a variety of men and their lifestyles. We also see Ethan depicted as unable to look a woman in the eye, which explains his lack of connection with his wife, and characters such as Portia portrayed as a literal lost lamb. Each character’s title card tells us something about their story and character.
How did art predict the end?
Theories about how The White Lotus would end have been circulating via Twitter and Tik Tok since the beginning of Season 2. It was clear that a character was going to die, and there were a lot of theories about who this might be. In the end, events were surprising when we found out that Tanya’s husband was in fact after her money all along and enlisted his old friend Quentin to help him kill Tanya so that their prenup could be overruled. Realizing the real intentions of Quentin and his friends, Portia alerted Tanya, who out of fear and desperation killed the men on the boat before meeting her own death.
One of the most explicit depictions in the credits shows a picturesque landscape of a castle on fire with a boat passing below. The image also shows a person watching it all happen from the beach and two men hiding under a stone arch while performing oral sex. This scene is eerily symbolic of the ending, showing how art served as a huge method of foreshadowing throughout the series, displaying the ending right before our very eyes from the start.