Scan hints Mona Lisa pregnant for pose (was La Joconde pregnant?)

Associated Press ^ | 09/27/06

[AnAmericanMother]

Holbein was a splendid artist.

I love his sketches even more than his finished works.

St. Thomas More (I just realized that our church music director bears more than a passing resemblance to him . . .)

[RetiredArmy]

And, it matters how, why? It does not affect anything whatsoever on this earth. Nothing.

[CremeSaver]

I agree I love Holbein work. I love his portrait of Henry VIII and of Henry's son Edward. He was brilliant and one of my favorites.

Thomas Moore is a hero of mine. The man had character, integrity, morality, humility, humor and a gentle kindness that truly made him a saint. Even without his contributions to England during Henry's reign Thomas Moore would have been known to history a great statesman. Too bad Henry chose to waste Moore's genius.

[AnAmericanMother]

A splendid man, everything an Englishman should be.

Henry wasn't fit to clean his shoes.

Red Mass tomorrow . . .

[CremeSaver]

Yes, he was. Have you ever seen A Man For All Seasons? It was an excellent movie about Saint/Sir Thomas Moore. (It was made when Hollywood actually made beautiful movies.) If you haven't seen it, try to rent it. I think you would like it a lot.

As for Henry, ugh, the only good thing that man did was sire Elizabeth the First. Now she was a remarkable woman. :O)

[AnAmericanMother]

It's a very good play by Robert Bolt and an excellent movie. It plays fast and loose with some historical facts, but history doesn't always make a good two-hour movie.

Orson Welles was over the top, but what else is new? < g >

[CremeSaver]

Oh, fantastic you have seen it. (I have read the play also.) Years ago, I went to a small theater in Daytona Beach to see the play. I wasn't expecting much, but they did such an excellent job with production that I couldn't wait for the movie. Have you seen Anne of a Thousand Days? It starred Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold (my spelling is probably atrocious). Quite a few historically based movies came out at that time. I have all of them on DVD and never tire of seeing them. :O)

[AnAmericanMother]

The sixties were an excellent era for good, solid historical dramas.

Some other notables were Lawrence of Arabia, Mutiny on the Bounty, Becket . . . it really was quite a run in the sixties.

[CremeSaver]

How about A Lion in Winter? It has to have the best cast of any movie that I have ever seen with Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, just to mention a few. What performances they gave. I still have most of the books that I bought in 60's. They are yellowed, the glue is dried out and pages fall out but they are still my favorites. Jean Plaidy and Margaret Campbell Barnes were two of the best authors of historical fiction.

[Syncro]

Oh I think that Frisco has a dark, prurient underbelly...but you are right, it is not PC to openly display such behavior.

[SoCal Pubbie]

You might want to think first, before displaying your ignorance for the whole world to see. As a professional designer, I am very interested in the techniques of one of the greatest artistic geniuses of all time. As a person interested in history, I am intrigued by the back story of great works of art. If you lack the imagination to appreciate such things, why not just take a pass on these kinds of stories?

[AnAmericanMother]

I like Georgette Heyer - her historical novels are excellent (actually her Regency romances are very clever and historically accurate as well).

[CremeSaver]

You and my daughter would have a lot to talk about she loves those too. I am a big fan of the Plantagenet Family, and Jean Plaidy, MCB, and Thomas Costain did quite a few books on the subject. Thomas Costain is probably more famous for The Silver Chalice, but his series on The Plantagenet family is one of the best I have ever read. It is history that reads like a novel, excellently done.

[PresbyRev]

More had six Lutherans martyred and many more Protestants tortured - some in his own home. "Gentle kindness" befitting a saint? Nah.

[CremeSaver]

I take it that you are not a fan of St. Thomas More? I am a Lutheran myself, but I realize that the times when More lived were quite different from the times that we live in now. I do believe that this was a man of integrity, honor, and humility at a time when those character traits were not common to most people who were involved in public life. I don't believe that St. Thomas would ever be the cause of hurting another human being. I do believe that once he had taken an oath to uphold the laws of the land he would keep that oath even at his own peril as history confirms.

I am curious as to what Protestants were killed in Thomas More's home. This is a story that I have not heard before.

[Blind Eye Jones]

"...there were no signs of any brush stroke."

He probably used a roller.

[Mamzelle]

re: who cares...

Well, the DaVinci code drones calim ML is a man in drag.

[RetiredArmy]

Stick your professional designed bragging. Just because I think this is meaningless, and who cares if a painting that was painted hundreds of years ago, that the model was pregnant or not pregnant, has nothing to do with nothing. Crap your own stupid ignorance.

[RetiredArmy]

I guess they were all there and saw it. These people who have nothing better to do with their time. What bothers me most is that someone is actually PAYING these people a salary to do this kind of stuff. This world has enough problems and needs that need to be solved, without crapping money down the toilet for stupid crap like this.

[SoCal Pubbie]

First of all, you asked who cared, and I answered. Is it really that important to you that everyone else's view comports to your own? Second, you didn't write your first post as your opinion, you stated it as fact. The fact that something may not affect our lives does not necessarily limit our interest. Who wins the Super Bowl or a NASCAR race may not affect our lives, but it does matter to some people, now doesn't it? How the pyramids were built may not really change our day to day activities, but some people are interested in the subject, aren't they?

Second, as a retired military man, certain small but interesting facts of history might pique your curiosity, do you agree? You might find whether or not Napoleon sat out Waterloo with hemorrhoids interesting, where others might be bored, for example. Third, the article was not only about the model's physical state but also about Da Vinci's techniques of layering paint.

Finally, now really, just because you or I or anyone else isn't interested in a particular subject doesn't mean anyone else should give a flying rip about that person's opinion, does it?