For a while, I had a fixed rule that In Case You Missed It wouldn’t just be a repository for meme culture, for funny things that will amuse you, then your friends, then get run into rapid irrelevance by relatives who don’t understand that memes are really just a public inside joke for the young. Then, I realized that sometimes, a meme is worth sharing, especially when it’s being shared on a website that prides itself on its cultural relevance. Especially when there are TLC jokes to be had.

Enter Joseph Ducreux. From KnowYourMeme.com:

Joseph Ducreux (June 26, 1735 – July 24, 1802) is an eighteenth century French artist known for his unorthodox style of portrait paintings. On the interweb, his eccentric self-portrait has inspired a series of exploitable macros, featuring “archaic reinterpretation” of popular rap lyrics superimposed over the artwork. Reminiscent of Bayeux Tapestry image macros, this highly verbose joke provides a satisfying challenge of “decoding” the corrupted lyrics back into to the original verses.

Essentially, you take a rap song, church it up in old prose and make that into a joke. This is way more satisfying than it probably sounds upfront. For instance:

First of all, it can’t be stressed enough how fucking pimp that painting is. Ducreux played around quite a bit with breaking the fourth wall; in other paintings he’s looking at the viewer or even engaging with it. This is the most famous, because, I mean, he looks pretty thug.

There are plenty more of these, because about two years ago the internet just ran with converting every rap chorus you can think of into a Ducreux-ism. To wit:

You get the picture.

For more of these, both Know Your Meme and Holy Taco’s piece on Ducreux are great resources.