probably just a gesture of being humbled by the viewers presence, which is why it is in art so much. Francis 1 on the bus doing it however...

btw where are you viewing these old paintings?

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I'm sorry, I got it all wrong.  Scratch that last comment.  

What this is, is a guy who's about to have a swordfight.

See the sword handle in the foreground?  

But he's not HOLDING the sword,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yet.

Alternatively, we don't know what his left hand is doing.

His left arm from the elbow down, is out of the picture.

But don't forget about his left shoulder, which droops.

Now, a drooping shoulder in a portrait like this has a
very important significance.

Either the artist was just goofy and had a twisted eye,
which is not reasonable because this man's face is nice
and straight without any drooping aspects on his left
side like his shoulder has, so for get that idea.

Or else the artist is subtly trying to tell us that this man
is right in the middle of a lunging motion with his body,
such as what he might do when grabbing his sword from
the fixture or rack that keeps it standing up like that.

If it were a scene from a Western, we could be thinking
that he's a lefty and he's right in the middle of a DRAW,
that is, of his holstered Colt .45!  

But they didn't have doily collars like this in the Old West.

So we are left thinking that he's been insulted, and his
honor is at stake, and so, he is reaching out to grab his
sword there in front of him, and the right hand to his
chest is a position that a swordsman assumes at the
beginning of his swordfight.  

And the hand that goes to the chest is the hand that
does NOT hold the sword.  

Therefore, this man is sinistromanual, IOW a lefty.

If he's Spanish (and it looks as though he may well be)
and his middle name is "Manuel," then maybe his first
name is "Sinistro."

But seriously, beyond the drooping left shoulder we
have a very curious thing, which is a light or a glow
as if emphasizing the profile of the left shoulder and
arm, as if to say, "This is not a mistake -- look at the
posture of this left arm!!"


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On the bus, wasn't Cardinal Bergoglio making a masonic hand gesture?

The day of his election I saw a video on YouTube that claimed he
was making a Masonic hand gesture (hand to the chest like this)
inside the room when he was walking up to the balcony that
overlooks St. Peter's Square (by Bernini).  

P.S.  It's also called Bernini's square by St. Peter's.  And now the
pope who is the bishop of Rome, has become the bishop of Rome
who is the pope.  And the "Catholic Pope" who does not call himself
the pope, believes in a God -- but the pope does not believe in
what he calls a "Catholic God."


What looks like a "hand gesture" might actually be merely a reflex
action that happens when one is trying to suppress a burp.


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Anytime anyone does anything with his hand, Some trad somewhere will scream "Mason".  For heaven's sake.  Sometimes a banana is just a banana.

Gotta love those Mason aprons.

Look familiar?

Or Pope Francis could have been merely reaching into his coat pocket for something.  Some people get way too caught up in conspiracy theories and see evidence of some evil satanic plot lurking in every shadow, behind every door and under every rock.  As far as I know there is no evidence that Pope Francis is a freemason.

Maybe someone asked him the time and he reached into his pocket to get his pocket watch so that he could give someone the time. Maybe the conductor was asking for his ticket. He was reaching into his pocket to give his ticket to the conductor. Maybe a beggar was asking for alms and he was reaching into his pocket to give the poor person a few pesos.  

Gotta love those Mason aprons.

Look familiar?

That sign could also refer to the Blessed Virgen Mary.