Ernesto 'Che' Guevara’s, transformational  motorcycle journey through Latin America at a very impressionable age, led him to join forces with Fidel and Raul Castro to become the face of the Cuban Revolution.

His participation was marked by his exceptional courage and organizational prowess. As a commander, he played a crucial role in overthrowing the dictator Fulgencio Batista, culminating in the seizure of the capital in 1959.

In the newly established regime, Che was influential in numerous areas, including overseeing execution squads, military training, managing the sugarcane-dominated agricultural economy, and aligning Cuba with the Soviet Union. His bold invitation to the Soviets to station missiles in Cuba escalated into the infamous Missile Crisis, narrowly avoiding a nuclear confrontation with the United States.

Eventually disenchanted with Soviet politics and Castro's leadership, Guevara embarked on further revolutionary endeavors, leading him to the Congo and ultimately Bolivia. It was in Bolivia, at the age of thirty-nine, that Guevara's journey ended when he was captured and executed by a CIA-backed militia.

Before leaving for Congo, he wrote to Castro a letter which has become famous for what it stands for.

You see a lone woman on her bed. She has just woken up, her hair tied up in a tight bun, dishevelled and devoid of any makeup, with her hands propped on her knees, tucked in. Her posture is relaxed and calm, yet distant, reaffirming her sense of solitude. It draws you in, because there is this deep ambivalence as she gazes impassively through the open window, her body bathed in the beautiful, warm, coaxing sunlight of dawn, yet betraying the joy it should usher in. Her unblinking stare emphasising her internal world, over her actual presence in the painting.

The play of light is the central motif in this composition. Streaming through an open window, it lights up her presence while casting a geometric pattern (a parallelogram) on the wall behind. It's as if the light from the window, has unlocked the window of her soul for viewers to peek in. The vast emptiness of the pattern discloses her emotions, and as such it’s born through allegory and brought to life through exquisite brushwork and composition.

A powerful visual metaphor, marrying identity, isolation, independence and privacy with that unknown called destiny.

The Rohonc Codex  or the “Hungarian Voynich” is  an illustrated manuscript which was found in the early 19th century in Hungary. As of date it is of unknown authorship and written in a dialect that is undeciphered. 

The codex contains 448 paper pages, nine to fourteen rows of symbols, and 87 images. The text is composed of an unknown script with no known parallel, featuring a large number of distinct symbols. The illustrations in the codex are quite diverse, depicting various religious, militaristic, and everyday life scenes.

Despite extensive efforts, the script of the Rohonc Codex remains undeciphered. Its mysterious origins, unique script, and debates surrounding its authenticity make it a captivating subject for historians , enthusiasts and linguists. While recent discoveries have yet to provide definitive answers, the Codex remains an interesting mystery, holding the potential to reveal new aspects of historical linguistics and mediaeval history.

If you are interested in cracking a centuries old undeciphered cipher, you can download one of the copies of the entire codex here.