Five paintings the narrator reads as hidden stories of helplessness, devotion and fear

The video opens with Anguish, which the narrator says was painted in 1878 by August Friedrich Shank. Black crows circle a woman, waiting for her defeat.

The narrator reads the animal scene as a vehicle for human helplessness and grief, and says that reading is why the painting still moves viewers today.

The second painting is Daniel's Answer to the King, which the narrator dates to 1892 and attributes to Briton Rivière. It depicts the biblical story of Daniel, thrown into a lion's den for his faith.

With his hands bound, Daniel does not look at the predators. He turns toward the light, and the narrator reads his calm devotion as the force that quiets the beasts.

The narrator presents Requiescat, dated to 1888 and also attributed to Briton Rivière, as a faithful dog resting its head beside its fallen master, a knight in armor.

The dog does not know the knight has died, and its sorrowful eyes wait for a touch that will never come. The narrator calls this devotion stronger than death.

The narrator describes a scene with a man outside holding flowers under bright sunlight, and a young woman leaning against the wall of a shadowy room. The painting's title is not named in the transcript.

The final painting comes from Shaun Tan's book The Red Tree. The narrator describes a towering red creature peering over a concrete wall at two helpless children.

The narrator reads the creature as anxiety, depression and trauma, and the huddled children as the sense of smallness we feel facing our darkest thoughts.