5 things players didn't know about paintings in Minecraft

Paintings are a staple in Minecraft decorations. These large artworks have gained popularity in the game since the early Minecraft tutorial days. These paintings come in many different shapes and sizes, and it's up to chance to see which painting will appear when placed.

Paintings are relatively simple to create and involve similar items as the item frame. To make a painting the player needs eight sticks, and any color of wool. The color of wool does not affect the size or design of the painting.

Players may want to know more about paintings since they're such a fun and common Minecraft decoration. Here are a few fun facts about paintings that Minecraft players might not have known.

5 Things players may not know about Minecraft paintings

#1 - The door trick

Besides their impressive decorative use, paintings are commonly used to hide secret entrances and doors. To hide a secret entrance all the player needs is a larger painting variant, a wall, and a door. The player should close the door and then place the painting over it making sure the door is completely covered.

The player should then go to the other side of the wall and open the door. When the player is on the painting side they will be able to enter and exit through the painting. The painting will hide this secret door completely, and players who don't know about its existence may never be able to enter unless by accident.

#2 - The mastermind behind the art

Person with a real life Minecraft painting (Image via Pinterest)

All of the artwork featured in the paintings was done by one person. Kristoffer Zetterstrand is the artist behind every Minecraft painting except for the Wither. He is a Swedish painter and has personal ties to Minecraft's creator, Notch.

Kristoffer Zetterstrand is Notch's ex-wife's brother. Notch and his ex-wife were married when Kristoffer did his work on the paintings.

#3 - Trading with villagers

Skull Minecraft painting (Image via mc-mod)

Players can trade a lot of items with villagers. One of these items are paintings. Although it is rare, master-level shepherds will trade the player three paintings for two emeralds. Unfortunately, this isn't a good deal for the player, since paintings are so easily created, and emeralds are so valuable to trade for other items.

#4 - Special Trivia

Minecraft painting on blue wall (Image via tf2.gamebanana.com)

There's a lot of unique trivia about paintings, and since they're one of the original items in Minecraft there's also a lot of history behind these non-block entities.

Similar to paintings hiding doors and secret entrances, when a player stands behind a painting the player on the other side will not be able to see their gamer tag. This is really useful for PvP type Minecraft games, or if the player is hiding from another player.

Players aren't attached to the wall or block they're placed on. When players look at paintings from the side they'll notice that the paintings aren't attached to the wall there's a small space in between.

#5 - Addition to Minecraft

Creeper Minecraft painting (Image via minecrafttemplate.blogspot.com)

Paintings were added to Minecraft very early, even before Minecraft Java Edition. These paintings were added all the way back in Minecraft Indev. Back then, there were only 19 painting variations. Today there are 26 different painting variants for players to choose from.