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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 01/29/2010 : 05:04:20
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Leonardo was something of a practical joker, as well as being, arguably, among the greatest genius' ever produced by our species. It is thought that he was also as gay as Uncle Ned's hatband, so why not feminine self portrait?
The Italians, with French cooperation, hope to find out.
Did Leonardo paint himself as "Mona Lisa"?
ROME (AP) -- The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is shrouded in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French chateau really those of the Renaissance master? Was the "Mona Lisa" a self-portrait in disguise?
A group of Italian scientists believes the key to solving those puzzles lies with the remains - and they say they are seeking permission from French authorities to dig up the body to conduct carbon and DNA testing.
If the skull is intact, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the identity of the "Mona Lisa." Recreating a virtual and then physical reconstruction of Leonardo's face, they can compare it with the smiling face in the painting, experts involved in the project told The Associated Press.
"We don't know what we'll find if the tomb is opened, we could even just find grains and dust," says Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist who is participating in the project. "But if the remains are well kept, they are a biological archive that registers events in a person's life, and sometimes in their death."
The leader of the group, Silvano Vinceti, told the AP that he plans to press his case with the French officials in charge of the purported burial site at Amboise Castle early next week.
But the Italian enthusiasm may be premature.
In France, exhumation requires a long legal procedure, and precedent suggests it's likely to take even longer when it involves a person of great note such as Leonardo.
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I'd love to know the answer to that, but at the same time, I'm a little ambivalent about it. If your life has no mystery in it, you might as well get born again and automatically have all the answers.
Ah well, "Dig we must!," eh?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Edited by - filthy on 01/29/2010 08:07:54
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2010 : 12:21:00 [Permalink]
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That's absurd, Filthy. I cannot conceive of any self-respecting artist making such a Pythonesque mockery of himself.
Mooner Lisa |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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sailingsoul
SFN Addict
2830 Posts |
 Posted - 01/29/2010 : 12:36:44 [Permalink]
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Mooner Lisa?  |
There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS |
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Mona Lisa; a self portrait?
