Red Dead Redemption 2 guide: Strange Painting and Strange Statues puzzle

The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of strange scenes and oddities to find. Some of them are full-on supernatural, but others are just little puzzles for you to solve. The most difficult is the Strange Statues puzzle. This guide will walk you through the entire puzzle, including finding an important (and seemingly disconnected) clue.

Strange Statues puzzle

There are two (seemingly disconnected) parts to this puzzle, but the first is a big clue to the second. The payoff is three gold bars (worth $1,500), so it’s worth the confusion and time.

Strange Painting

Grid View

• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon

Head to Window Rock on the north bank of the Dakota River. It’s to the west of Fort Wallace and to the north of Valentine. You’ll need to approach from the south and climb up the rocks to get into the window part — the natural stone arch.

Look at the stone wall on the north side of the window to find the Strange Painting. Interact with it to have Arthur draw it in his journal, then take a minute to look at it closer (and take a screenshot or write down some things).

The stylized eagles next to each human figure have different numbers of tail feathers. Starting at the top and working around clockwise, it goes: seven, six, three, four, five, eight, and two.

This is your hint for the next section.

Strange Statues

Grid View

• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon
• Rockstar Games via Polygon

The next part of this puzzle lies a little to the east-northeast of the painting. You’re looking for a spot just south of the I in in Abarino and just east of Donner Falls. It’s a bit northeast of Fort Wallace and southeast of the Wapiti Indian Reservation.

As you’re riding along the only road through this section of the northern Grizzlies East, watch along the northern edge for some rocks. Ride up the hill to the north along the western edge of these rocks and look for a lone tree standing next to a gap in the rocks. Head into that gap and you’ll find a narrow entrance to a cave.

The cave

Inside the cave, there are seven human statues in a ring around a winged figure. Head into the middle of the ring and interact with the statues to get Arthur to record this in his journal as well.

There are two buttons on each of the human statues — one on the front and one on the back. These are basically on/off switches. Your job is to turn on the correct statues.

These statues correspond to the figures in the pictograph above — the numbers match the number of fingers the statue has. (The missing arm of the statue with only one arm is lying on the floor of the cave nearby.)

You have to push the button on the front of the statues with a prime number of fingers — two, three, five, and seven.

If you’ve done it correctly, a small panel will open on the front of the winged statue’s plinth. Head there to pick up your three gold bars. You can sell them to a Fence for $1,500.