1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,559 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Guess what will? 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 2: What's that? 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: Mango? So I'm trying to write a poem for the 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa and I need little help. Rhyme Zone says 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: there's no perfect rhyme for Mona Lisa. So what do 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: you think rhyme's best? Like amnesia anesthesia or moesha? Wait, Mango? 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 2: First of all, why are you writing Mona Lisa poem? 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: Because even though there are over a million pieces of 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: art in the Louver, the Mona Lisa is the only 11 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: one who actually receives her own mail, and people have 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: been writing to the Mona Lisa since the nineteenth century. 13 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,919 Speaker 1: She even has her own mailbox because the painting is 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 1: so enchanting. So I'm curious, So, like, what what do 15 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: people actually write? Some of the letters express how moved 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,959 Speaker 1: people are by the artwork, and some ask the smirking 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: Beauty for advice, and some of the letters actually include 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: marriage proposals. 19 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 2: It is pretty incredible. I love that people have a 20 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 2: parasocial relationship with a piece of art. I think it's 21 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 2: the first time I've heard about this. 22 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it used to be For years you actually 23 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: have to make a trip to the Louver to pass 24 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: along your fan mail tour. But these days you can 25 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: actually post a letter to the museid Louver Service de 26 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: public Attention day Mona Lisa, which I've obviously said in 27 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: a perfect franch accent, and you nailed it, Mango, So 28 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: I figure, why not add to the file. 29 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 2: Well, in that case, maybe try rhyming Mona Lisa with 30 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 2: milk of Magnesia, Mango. 31 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: That's where you would have an answer for me. So 32 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: why don't we put the poetry aside for a moment 33 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: and dive into today's episode, which is all about the 34 00:01:41,800 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa. 35 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 2: Hey, their podcast listeners. I'm Will Pearson and as always 36 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 2: I'm here with my good friend Mango and sitting behind 37 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 2: that big booth that's our powd Dylan. Now, Mango, I 38 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 2: know I got here a little bit before you did, 39 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 2: but Dylan was already here. I think he had clocked 40 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 2: in a good half hour before I even sat down, 41 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 2: and he's been holding that weird smile Mona Lisa's style 42 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 2: for the last hour. 43 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: Now. 44 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 2: It's really impressive. 45 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's weird, but it's also really captivating. It's also 46 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: crazy that he shaved his eyebrows. I mean, it's just 47 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: spot on to the Mona Lisa. But that's just the 48 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: links to Dylan goes to for these bits. It's truly impressive. Anyway, mego, 49 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: let's dive in here. So what is it about the 50 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa that is so captivating? Like? 51 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: Why do people stand in lines to get into the 52 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 2: louver just so they can stand in this huge crowd 53 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 2: and try to see this painting? Is it just her 54 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: smile or like what is it? 55 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: Yeah? So obviously it's not just the smile. First of all, 56 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,920 Speaker 1: it's a super good painting, which I believe is a 57 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: direct quote from our forum. 58 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, I think, I think I remember seeing 59 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 2: that quote. But what makes the painting so unique? Well, 60 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 2: to start with, most sixteenth. 61 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: Century portraits of nobility showed off their social status and 62 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: their wealth with a lot of like flamboyant clothing. So 63 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: the painting's also played up hair styles and accessories. But 64 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: you know, if you've seen the Mona Lisa, which is 65 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: believed to be this Italian noble Lisa del Giacondo, it's 66 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: unique because she's dressed really simply, all of which draws 67 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: most of the attention straight to her face and that 68 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: weird smile. Yeah, but there's also other stuff, right, So, 69 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: typical Italian portraiture used full figure poses, but Mona Lisa 70 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: is painted in this revolutionary three fourths length pose. Also, 71 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: she's not stoic or demure, which would be typical of 72 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: a female portrait. She's she's turning slightly toward the viewer 73 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: and she meets our eyes directly like a man typically would, 74 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: or a man at the time. And Modalsa also showcases 75 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: some very vincy techniques. What would those be? Yeah? What 76 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: is this technique called sfumtu, which means vanished or evaporated. Basically, 77 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: Leonardo would create these imperceptible transitions between light and dark 78 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: by shading the colors really gradually so that the background 79 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: fades into the distance. It's almost like adding a blur filter. 80 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: And it's another deviation from traditional Italian portraiture of the time, 81 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: which would paint the backgrounds in this same sharp focus 82 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,559 Speaker 1: as the central figure. Actually, is this fuma to also 83 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: a drink. Yeah, it's in a marrow, which makes sense 84 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: because if you drink enough smatu, things are going to 85 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: get faded into the background. 86 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, I just want to say sfumatu over and over. 87 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 2: But this is all cool, But I do think we 88 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 2: should get back to the Mona Lisa's weird smile. I 89 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 2: know I keep bringing it up, but I feel like 90 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 2: we have to talk about it. 91 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the smile that launched a mediocre two thousand 92 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: and three movie Emego. 93 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 2: It's sixty percent on rotten Tomato, so I would say, 94 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 2: I don't sleep on it. 95 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: So I was up. 96 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 2: I just, you know, I like to know what it 97 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 2: gets on rotten tomatoes. But I also looked into Mona 98 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 2: Lisa's smile and it's amazing. Like the preoccupation with the 99 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 2: painting smile dates back to the Renaissance writer and historian 100 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 2: Giorgio Vasari, and he actually said, in this work of Leonardo, 101 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 2: there was a smile so pleasing that it was a 102 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 2: thing more divine than human to behold, and it was 103 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 2: held to be something marvelous in that it was alive, 104 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:35,679 Speaker 2: which sounds spooky. It sounds spooky, But he also wasn't 105 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 2: the only one that was so captivated here. So the 106 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 2: treacherous attraction of Moasia's smile is said to have consumed 107 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 2: French artist Luke Maspero too. According to popular myth, Maspero 108 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 2: allegedly ended his life over it. We actually leapt from 109 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 2: the I know it's crazy. He actually leapt from the 110 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 2: fourth story window of his Paris hotel room, and in 111 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 2: the note he left behind, he wrote, for years I 112 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 2: have grappled desperately with her smile. I prefer to die. 113 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: That's so dramatic, you know, you know, why would a 114 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: smile and a painting drive someone so crazy? It it 115 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: feels ludicrous. 116 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 2: Well, you know what, there's actually some science here, like, 117 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 2: there are explanations for it. Some people who look at 118 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 2: the painting think she's not smiling at all, and that's 119 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 2: because the human eye uses two types of vision. There's 120 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 2: fobial and there's peripheral. Now, fobial or direct vision is 121 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 2: excellent at picking up detail, but is less suited to 122 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 2: picking up things like shadows, and so, according to Margaret Livingstone, 123 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 2: a professor at Harvard Quote, the elusive quality of the 124 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 2: Mona Lisa smile can be explained by the fact that 125 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 2: her smile is almost entirely in low spatial frequencies and 126 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 2: so is seen best by your peripheral vision. It's almost 127 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 2: like an optical illusion, like the more a person stares 128 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 2: straight ahead, the less their peripheral vision actually works. 129 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: Oh that's really cool. So I'm at the I'm staring 130 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: at the Mona Lisa because I want to take it 131 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: all in and get my money's worth. But the harder 132 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: I stare, the harder it is for my vision to 133 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: register that smile. 134 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And it's only when you start looking 135 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 2: at other parts of the painting, like the background or 136 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 2: hands or the chair, that's when your eyes really pick 137 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 2: up on the smile, which could sort of strike you 138 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: as alive, right because it's not there, and it suddenly 139 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 2: appears like Mona Lisa is finally deigned to smile at you, 140 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 2: the sweaty jet lag tourists who's come all the way 141 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 2: to friends to see her. I mean, that's the theory, Mango. 142 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: You know what's funny is that I'm really glad you 143 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: mentioned the chair. Wait, chair? 144 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: What did I say about the chair? I don't think 145 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 2: I said anything about the chair, did I. 146 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: Just that it exists? It trikes out chair. The chair 147 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: is one of the most interesting parts of the Mona Lisa, 148 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: and one that art historians actually focus on. Specifically, it's 149 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: a pozetto chair, which means little well, which some historians 150 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: believe is a reference to the amphibious nature of Mona Lisa. 151 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: She's surrounded by water, she's wearing this green dress, and 152 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: if you know she's sitting on a little well, you 153 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: could imagine the rivers behind her are flowing into her. 154 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. 155 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 2: It's obviously a rich and surprising and ingeniously conceived work 156 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 2: of art. But here's what I've always been stuck on 157 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 2: with the Mona Lisa. Like the Renaissance had I don't 158 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: know if you know this, but a lot of really 159 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 2: super good paintings mego, which. 160 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: Also sounds like a quote from Art Forum. 161 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 2: Straight from it. But seriously, I've always wondered what made 162 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 2: the Mona Lisa stick out amongst all this amazing art, 163 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 2: And through our research, I finally found the answer, Mango, 164 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 2: it's the vibes. 165 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: Vibes, Yeah, yeah, well, the vibes and incredible marketing, like 166 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa is like the Jeremy Allen White of 167 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: Renaissance paintings. I don't even know what that means. 168 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 2: All right, well, hear me out on this. So even 169 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 2: before it was in the loop. The Mona Lisa started 170 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 2: out hot like it had this great pedigree. It was 171 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 2: in the royal collection of the literal King of France, 172 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 2: Francis I, and who's court Leonardo spent the last years 173 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 2: of his life. The painting was there for centuries until 174 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 2: the French Revolution claimed the royal collection as the property 175 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 2: of the people. Then Napoleon took it and placed it 176 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 2: in his bedroom because he loved it that much, and 177 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 2: then finally it landed in the Louver. Sure, so there's 178 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 2: like a lot of history there of being owned by 179 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 2: important people. But it was also the heat around Leonardo 180 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 2: dventually that helped grow interest in the Mona Lisa, because 181 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 2: something happened in the nineteenth century where Leonardo became more popular, 182 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 2: you know, see, not only as a very good painter, 183 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 2: but also as a great scientist an inventor of course, 184 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 2: and many of his so called inventions were later debunked, 185 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 2: and his contributions to science and architecture came to be 186 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,199 Speaker 2: seen as you know, less than they might have been 187 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 2: at first. But this idea of Leonardo as a genius 188 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: has continued well into the twenty first century, and that 189 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 2: of course has contributed to the Mona Lisa's popularity. But 190 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 2: then there was Marcel Duchamp's contribution to the painting. 191 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: So you're talking about Deschamp. The data is too, you know, 192 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: made all that fun crazy art, like signed that urinal 193 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: and entered it into an art exhibition. 194 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:09,719 Speaker 2: Back guy, Yeah, very same guy. So Duchamp took a 195 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 2: postcard reproduction of the Mona Lisa. This was back in 196 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 2: nineteen nineteen. He drew a beard and mustache on it. 197 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 2: It was like this playful depiction. It was meant to 198 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 2: be in irreverent commentary about the worship of art. But 199 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 2: he also wrote lhoo q across the bottom of the postcard. 200 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: Which sounds like, look right, is that? What's I mean? Exactly? 201 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 2: Well, it's a vulgar phrase for I guess you could 202 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 2: say she's hot, But the polite translation is there is 203 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 2: fire down below, got it? You've never written that on anything. 204 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: Anyway. 205 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 2: The depiction of the Mona Lisa became a huge thing 206 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 2: to deface of this revered work of art as commentary, 207 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 2: and before a long other artists followed suit and distorted disfigure. 208 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 2: They played with rep reductions of the Mona Lisa, including 209 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 2: Andy Warhol, actually, over decades, as technology improved, the painting 210 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 2: was endlessly reproduced, sometimes manipulated, sometimes not, and so her 211 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 2: face became one of the most well known in the world, 212 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 2: even to people who don't really care about art. 213 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: Right, so, I may have never been to the Louver 214 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,719 Speaker 1: or never even heard of Leo da Vinci, But by 215 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, even if I hate art, it's hard 216 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: to avoid the Mona Lisa's presence. 217 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 2: That's exactly right. In fact, in the nineteen sixties and seventies, 218 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 2: the Mona Lisa was so famous she went on tour. 219 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:35,959 Speaker 2: She traveled to the US and a first class cabin 220 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 2: on an ocean liner threw about forty thousand people a 221 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 2: day to the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and 222 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 2: then in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, d C. 223 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 2: And then after that she went on to Japan. 224 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: And of course the popularity was only increased by that 225 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 1: heist too, right, wait, there was a heist. It is 226 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: really really fun, But why don't we take a quick 227 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: break before we get to that. 228 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 2: Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're discussing the 229 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 2: Mona Lisa and Mango. You were just telling us about 230 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 2: an art theft involving da Vinci's most famous painting. 231 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: Is that right? That's right. So in nineteen eleven, the 232 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,080 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa had made it to the Louver, a huge 233 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: museum in Paris, literally huge like. At the time, the 234 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: Louver was the largest building in the world, with more 235 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: than a thousand rooms spread out over forty five acres. 236 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 2: Can you believe, Oh my gosh, that's ridiculous. So what 237 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 2: is the heating bill on a place like that? Can 238 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 2: you imagine? 239 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: Nothing? Because it's France, so it's just cold, all right, 240 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: A good point, that's fair. Anyways, it was a quiet 241 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: Monday morning in Paris on the twenty first of August 242 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven, and three men were hurrying out of the Louver, 243 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: which is odd that the museum was closed to visitors 244 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: on Mondays. The men were Vincenzo Perusia and the brothers, 245 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: Vincenzo and Michelle Lancelotti. They're these young Italian handymen. They 246 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: had come to the Louver on Sunday afternoon, hidden overnight 247 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: in a storeroom near the Salon care A gallery of 248 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: Renaissance paintings, and then in the morning wearing white workmen's smocks, 249 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: they went into the salon and seized a small painting 250 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 1: off the wall. They ripped off the glass, shadow box 251 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: and frame, and then they went to a stairwell and 252 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: Perusia hid the painting under his clothes, and then they 253 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 1: slipped out of the gallery down a back stairwell, threw 254 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: a side entrance and onto the streets of Paris. And 255 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: so they stole the Mona Lisa. Yeah, they stole the 256 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa. It took twenty six hours before the louver 257 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: staff even noticed that it was missing. You have to 258 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: remember how big the louver is, right, and in nineteen 259 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: eleven there were fewer than one hundred and fifty guards 260 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 1: looking out for all of that art. 261 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 2: I'm curious, So, like, how did they plan it and 262 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 2: why did they steal it? Like, give me the Ocean's 263 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 2: ta plot here mango. 264 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,319 Speaker 1: Before in nineteen ten, a letter was mailed to the 265 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: louver from Vienna which threatened the Mona Lisa. So museum 266 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: officials hired a firm named Kobie to put a dozen 267 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: of its most prized paintings under glass, and the work 268 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: took three months, and one of the men assigned to 269 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: the project was Vincenzo Perusia who was one of the 270 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: thieves and Prussia was this Italian worker on a French 271 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: construction crew, so they teased him a lot. Prusia later 272 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: testified in court that they quote almost always called me 273 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: Manja Macaroni or Macaroni eater, and very often they stole 274 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: my personal property and salted my wine. So he was 275 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: getting bull at this French crew. Yeah, and you took 276 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: it personally. And some accounts say Prusia was motivated by 277 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: national pride and he wanted to repatriate Mona Lisa to Italy. Anyway, 278 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: there there was this media explosion when the Louver announced 279 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: the theft. Newspaper headlines were all over the place, you know, 280 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: wanted posters for the painting were hung on Regian walls, 281 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: and crowds masked at police headquarters. And when the Louver 282 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: actually reopened after a week, thousands of spectators, including Franz Kafka, 283 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: flooded into the salon to stare at the empty wall 284 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: where the Mona Lisa had once been. An empty people 285 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: are so weird, like why would people line up to 286 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: stare at a blank wall? I mean the grief was remarkable, right, 287 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: like the national outpouring. According to historians, mimicked the shock 288 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: of Princess Diana's death and where was the actual painting 289 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: being kept during all of this? So Prusia had squirreled 290 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa away in this false bottom of a 291 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: wooden trunk in his room at a boardinghouse. And when 292 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: the Parisian police interrogated him as part of all their interviews, 293 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: because they basically interviewed everyone who was working at the 294 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: louver at the time, he said he only learned about 295 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: the theft from the newspapers and that the reason he 296 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: was late to work that Monday in August was that 297 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: he had drunk too much the night before and overslept. 298 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: But Prusia ultimately wanted money for this world famous painting, 299 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: so he twenty eight months, and then in December nineteen thirteen, 300 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: he left that boarding house with the trunk and he 301 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: took a train to Florence, where he tried to offload 302 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: the painting to an art dealer, who promptly called the police. 303 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: He then had a brief trial in Florence, pleaded guilty, 304 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: and ended up serving just eight months in prison. I mean, 305 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: I guess it's a fairly happy ending of the story, then, yeah, 306 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: and the painting actually went on tour in Italy briefly 307 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: before it got sent back to France, but that theft 308 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: made the Mona Lisa a global icon. In the first 309 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: two days after it was rehung in the Louvers Salon, 310 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: more than one hundred thousand people viewed it, and today 311 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: eight million people see the Mona Lisa every single year. 312 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 2: Wow, it does feel like Prusia should have gotten like 313 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 2: this pr fee or something like that for boosting the 314 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 2: Mona Lisa's profile. 315 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, but weirdly, you know, there are actually some conspiracy theories. 316 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: So some said that theft was the French government's way 317 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: of trying to distract the public opinion from uprisings in 318 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 1: colonial West Africa. A few months before the was found, 319 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: the New York Times speculated that the Louver Restores had 320 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: botched a restoration job and that the museum was just 321 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: like concocting this story to cover that up. There was 322 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: also a rumor that a gang of international art thieves 323 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: had poached the painting and substituted a fake that was 324 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: in Perusia's possession when he was caught, which is all 325 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,400 Speaker 1: kind of incredible. Whoa really. Yeah, And apparently this Argentinian 326 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: also confessed to masterminding the crime. He did this to 327 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: American reporter named Carl Decker. He basically said he paid 328 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: Perusia and the other two men to steal the painting 329 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: because the glass box that protected it weighed two hundred pounds, 330 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: so you needed a few men on the job. And 331 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: then he said he had six forgeries made and sold 332 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: to private collectors. So for a while there was some 333 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: question of whether the Mona Lisa and the Louver was 334 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: the real deal. And then the other conspiracy theory around 335 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: the theft was this whole you know Picasso thing. 336 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 2: Wait what Picasso thing? 337 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of incredible. So during that eighteen month 338 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: period where the French police were not arrested the dudes 339 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: who actually stole the Mona Lisa, they arrested Pablo Picasso 340 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: and the poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire. It started when 341 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: this guy, Joseph Gary Pierre went to the Paris Journal 342 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 1: and told them that for the past several years he'd 343 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: been stealing and then selling minor artwork from the Louver, 344 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: and to prove it, Pire produced a small statue that 345 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: the Louver curators confirmed with museums, and the police eventually 346 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: connected Piree to Apollinaire, who was a member of Picasso's 347 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: modernist entourage. They were called labond de Picasso, and there 348 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: were this like group of artistic firebrands known around town 349 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: as the wild Men of Paris. And it wasn't really 350 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: that big a stretch for the police to assume this 351 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: ring of art thieves were sophisticated enough to swipe the 352 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa. Of course, neither Apollinaire nor Picasso had played 353 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: any part in that painting's disappearance. 354 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 2: All right, So Picasso and his buddies didn't steal the 355 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 2: Mona Lisa. They were innocent. 356 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, the funny thing is they weren't exactly innocent. 357 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: Pierre was telling the truth that Picasso had bought stolen 358 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: statues from him and kept them buried in this cupboard 359 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: in his Paris apartment, and you know, later the hardest 360 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: pretended ignorance, like he didn't know they were stolen. But 361 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: at the bottom of every statue it was stamped in 362 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: bold property of de Louver. 363 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 2: That's not a good look. 364 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, And it got weirder because when pire got put 365 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: on trial, it kind of ended up being like this 366 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: massive farce. Picasso and his friends confessed to putting their 367 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: stolen statues in this old suitcase and almost throwing the 368 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: bag into the Seine before realizing they couldn't destroy this 369 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: incredible art. So upon Air confesses to everything on the stand, 370 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: but he also throws in a lot of lies, and Picasso, 371 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: who normally liked to project, you know, a supermasho image, 372 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,199 Speaker 1: he breaks down and weeps and also says a lot 373 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: of nonsense, and it all confuses the judge and he 374 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: gets baffled by the whole thing, and then ultimately just 375 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: dismisses the men with a warning. But because's involvement obviously 376 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: only brought the Mona Lisa more press, that is so funny, 377 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: all right, Well, let's take a moment to talk about 378 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: who the Mona Lisa actually is. Like, who is this 379 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: woman whose portrait has been reproduced a ridiculous amount of 380 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: times for five hundred plus years. Yeah, it's funny because 381 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:22,679 Speaker 1: I feel like there used to be a real mystery 382 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 1: about who the Mona Lisa was. 383 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 2: That's right, But back in two thousand and eight at 384 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 2: German University found conclusive evidence that it's Lisa Gherdini del 385 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 2: ja Condo dated notes from October fifteen oh three, scribbled 386 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 2: in the margins of a book at Heidelberg University's library. 387 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 2: They confirmed that Lisa del Jacondo was indeed the model 388 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,719 Speaker 2: and her husband was most likely the man who commissioned 389 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 2: the portrait. The comments comparare Leonardo to the ancient Greek 390 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 2: artist at Pelis, and said he was working on three 391 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 2: paintings at the time, one of them a portrait of 392 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 2: Lisa del Jacondo. 393 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: Which sounds pretty conclusive. 394 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, I will say at c like for almost any 395 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 2: given fact or assertion about the Mona Lisa, there is someone, 396 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 2: often with the fancy Tyler degree who disputes it, of course, 397 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 2: like anything. But probably the only thing everyone can agree 398 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,919 Speaker 2: on is that it's rectangular. But let's go with the 399 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 2: Lisa del Jacondo theory for just a minute. Like, there's 400 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 2: been this long standing theory that Lisa was or had 401 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 2: recently been pregnant when she's set for this portrait, and 402 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 2: in two thousand and four, a series of three D 403 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 2: scans essentially confirmed this. The scans showed this fine gauzy 404 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 2: veil around Mona Lisa's shoulders, this garment that women of 405 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 2: the Italian and Renaissance were when they were expecting it's 406 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 2: called a guamelo. Well, couldn't we just see the veil 407 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 2: by looking at the painting? Like, why do we need 408 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 2: three D scans of all of us? Actually, the scans 409 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 2: have been able to tell us a whole lot. Like 410 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 2: for a while, there was this big question over whether 411 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 2: the Mona Lisa didn't have eyelashes or eyebrows, and there 412 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 2: was a debate over whether it was just the fashion 413 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 2: at the time or whether maybe leoni Ardo never actually 414 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 2: finished the painting. But an engineer named Pascal Cote used 415 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 2: the scans to reveal traces of the Mona Lisa's left 416 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 2: brow and basically that the lashes have been obliterated both 417 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 2: by time and this long ago restoration. Also, the scans 418 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 2: showed that da Vinci changed his mind about two fingers 419 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 2: on Lisa's left hand and how they were going to 420 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 2: be placed in the painting, and that her face was 421 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 2: originally a little bit wider and the smile more prominent. 422 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 2: So it's really actually a lot that they can tell 423 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 2: from these scans. That's incredible. 424 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: I had no idea you could like sort of see 425 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: beneath the painting to all those layers, that's amazing. 426 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really really cool. But you know your question 427 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 2: about the veil. As the Mona Lisa aged, her veil 428 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 2: darkened and it made it harder to see. But with 429 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 2: the confirmation of the veil, historians were able to confirm 430 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 2: that Francesco del Jacondo asked for the painting of his 431 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 2: wife to celebrate the birth of his second. 432 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: Son, which confirms that Mona Lisa is his wife, Lisa 433 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: del Giaconda. 434 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 2: That's right, actually his third wife to be exact. So 435 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 2: in fourteen ninety five, at the age of fifteen, Lisa 436 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 2: Gardini married prosperous silk and cloth merchant Francisco di Bartolomeo 437 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 2: di Zenobi del Jacondo. It's a mouthful there, but it's 438 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 2: a pretty awesome name. Lisa and Francesco ended up having 439 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 2: five children, Piero, Camilla, Andrea Jacondo and Marietta. So that's 440 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 2: the Lisa in the Mona Lisa allegedly. Don't tell me 441 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 2: you're getting into conspiracy talk here, Mango. 442 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,080 Speaker 1: Well, I want to end this episode on a crazy note. 443 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: So did you know that some people believe there are 444 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: two Mona Lisas. Oh, who Basically, there's this painting that 445 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: looks a lot like the Mona Lisa. It's a painting 446 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: of a younger woman, kind of like uh fresher, younger 447 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa, with dark hair and an enigmatic smile that 448 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 1: sits at a slight angle in front of a panoramic landscape, 449 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: which obviously sounds familiar. It's called the Aleworth Mona Lisa, 450 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: and long story short, it got passed around different art 451 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: collectors over the centuries, including American collector Henry F. Pulitzer. 452 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: Pulitzer published a book arguing that the Aleworth picture was 453 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: in fact Leonardo's only real portrait of Mona Lisa. The 454 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,360 Speaker 1: way did Leonardo actually paint this one? I mean, some 455 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: people think so, namely the Mona Lisa Foundation, who have 456 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,679 Speaker 1: a vested interest in, you know, furthering this theory, but 457 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 1: most art scholars don't believe. So it's painted on canvas, 458 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: and Leonardo usually painted on wood, and they basically say 459 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: that it's just not good enough to be by Leonardo 460 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: da Vinci. It's just like a bad copy of the 461 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa. But speaking of bad copy, what do you 462 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: say we get into the fact of. 463 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 2: Aw I like what you did there, manga, Let's do it. 464 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: All right. So, one of the strangest things about the 465 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa is that it's been attacked. A bunch in 466 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six threw a rock at it, which chipped 467 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,119 Speaker 1: the subject's left elbow. Over the years, people have thrown 468 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: acid on it, They've tried to face it with spray paint, 469 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: They've thrown a mug at it, and weirdest of all, 470 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 1: it had a cake thrown in its face as recently 471 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: as twenty twenty two. That is so weird and disheartening, 472 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: you know. According to a book by Diane Hales, over 473 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,199 Speaker 1: the years, the Mona Lisa has launched a number of 474 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: fashion trends, and this is what she writes. Quote Society 475 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,479 Speaker 1: women adopted the Mona Lisa's look by dusting yellow powder 476 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: on their faces and necks to suggest her golden complexion, 477 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: and immobilizing their facial muscles to mimic her smile, which 478 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: sounds like an early imitation of botox. Also quote. In 479 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,680 Speaker 1: Parisian cabarets, dancers dressed as Laja Conde, the French name 480 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: for Mona Lisa, and performed a saucy can can. 481 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 2: All right, that's pretty good. All right, Well, did you 482 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 2: know in trying to figure out who the Mona Lisa was, 483 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 2: scientists have actually dug up bones beneath the convent in Florence. 484 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,719 Speaker 2: Apparently one of Lisa's daughters became a nun and in 485 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 2: her old age she moved into the convent with her daughter. 486 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 2: So scientists went digging beneath this chapel. They found bones 487 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 2: that do match up timeline wise with Lisa's death, but 488 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 2: they were hoping to use digital imaging on the skeleton 489 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 2: to compare it to the painting. But apparently there was 490 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,919 Speaker 2: no skull found with the bones, and that means her 491 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 2: face couldn't actually be digitally reconstructed. 492 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,880 Speaker 1: So here's a fun one. To keep his subject smiling 493 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,120 Speaker 1: or half smiling, Da Vinci had a whole bag of tricks. 494 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: He apparently employed six musicians to perform for her, had 495 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: people reading stories out loud to her, and also had 496 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: a fluffy white cat and a greyhound dog for her 497 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: to play with on set. All right, will people often 498 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 1: speculate how much the Mona Lisa is worse. Back in 499 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, when the painting went on tour, the 500 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: price was placed at about one hundred million dollars, which 501 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 1: is around eight hundred and thirty four million dollars in 502 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: today's currency, but others estimated it's actually worth more. One 503 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: Entre Dour placed it in the billions of dollars because 504 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: of its value to France and the amount of tourism 505 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: the painting generates. Of course, all of that is actually 506 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,160 Speaker 1: mood because it's illegal to buy or sell the Mona 507 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: Lisa in France. I love that they made it illegal 508 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: to to buy its. 509 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, don't try it. 510 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,560 Speaker 1: So one of the things I wanted to understand was 511 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: why the Mona Lisa ended up in France. And apparently 512 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: Leonardo had started painting Lisa in Italy, but when his patron, 513 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: the Medici, the brother of Pope Leo the ten, died, 514 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: he wasn't getting commissions in Italy. So you know, the 515 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 1: French were very welcoming. They praised his genius, so he 516 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: moves there. But some of the first damage to the 517 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: Mona Lisa actually happened early on. It happened when King 518 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: Francis the First owned the painting. He hung it in 519 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: his bathing suite where the steam actually dulled the color. 520 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,640 Speaker 1: And when a restorer tried to preserve the color by 521 00:27:55,680 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: putting the lacquer on it, he permanently dulled it. All right, well, 522 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: here's one to close it out, mango. Did you know 523 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: that there is a scientist who claims to have figured 524 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,639 Speaker 1: out what the Mona Lisa actually sounded like. This was 525 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: part of a promotion for the Japanese version of The 526 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,440 Speaker 1: da Vinci Code. Montsumi Suzuki used the measurement from the 527 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: painting's face and hands to figure out how big her 528 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,439 Speaker 1: skull would have been, also to determine her height about 529 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: five foot six inches. Then they used data simulation to 530 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: recreate the vocal cords to figure out her pitch and 531 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: apparently the voice is somewhat deep. Now, we also figured 532 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: out what Leonardo da Vinci's voice sounded like, and apparently 533 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: it was super nasal. I love that. Yeah, I do 534 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: wonder if knowing that da Vinci was nasal helps, you know, 535 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: help sell tickets for the movie. But whatever the case, 536 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: the fact is so good it makes me want to 537 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: give you this week's trophy. And also I'm thinking we 538 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: should stop the fact off just to get Dylan some 539 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: rogaine for his eyebrows, because totally they went above and beyond. 540 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 2: I mean, he just tries so hard that Dylan. All right, well, 541 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 2: that's it for this week's Part Time Genius. To remember. 542 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 2: If you want to tell us anything about the show, 543 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 2: if you want to ask us questions, send in your 544 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 2: own poems about the Mona Lisa, just email our mothers 545 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 2: at PT genius Moms at gmail dot com. That's the letter, 546 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 2: p the letter T. 547 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: Genius Moms at gmail dot com. They'll make sure we 548 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 1: get the message. Mang. 549 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 2: I don't know if you knew we created this email address, 550 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 2: but it's it's pretty amazing, So send us notes here. 551 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 2: That's right, Thank you so much for listening. 552 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 553 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongastikler 554 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode 555 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan. What's 556 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 1: the from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced for 557 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: iHeart by Katrina Norvel and Ali Perry, with social media 558 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shorey 559 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 560 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.