The list of people who enjoy this genre is long and distinguished. Matt Dinan, a Great Books professor at St. Thomas University, also belongs to it.
"I'm an avid viewer of classical art memes," Dinan says.
Dinan agrees that these pictures are more than simple jokes.
"One of the things I think is so ingenious about classical art memes is that they take these images that are heavily contextual — like, you knew from the context that this is Adam and Eve, or this is Virgin Mary and Jesus — they take all the context away, and that in itself is funny," Dinan explains.
Dinan loves that "we're taking something ... very specific in another culture, and taking something that is specific in [our] culture and putting it on top of it" because this way, you don't need to be an expert on art history to get in on the fun.
"I suspect people find them funny even when they don't get the references. People have a general sense that if it looks like classical art of any kind, of any period, and it has this kind of humor on it, then it's kind of funny."
"Then there's another sense that this is art done by liberal arts geeks, for liberal arts geeks. They're in-jokes. It's easier than it was in the past to become liberally educated in such a way that you can get these jokes."
Dinan believes these memes really do bring older art into a new light.
"I'd see this ... as ... participating in an ongoing democratization of the artistic world."
Some of these memes might look edgy, but you need to be bold if you want to challenge conventional thinking or even spark meaningful conversation.
Dinan says that in the end, there's nothing you can really do if someone wants to be offended by a meme, like the one of Van Gogh looking like he's just seen the phattest booty in his entire life.
“Someone will always look at an excuse to be offended in everything," Dinan adds.
