Mona Lisa(PART 1 OF 3)
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So Kato, how come you've brought up Mona lisa all of a sudden?
... 'Cause the following lovely song reminds me of the most beautiful and mysterious smile of this world-famous woman.
"Mona Lisa" by Nat King Cole
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Oh, what a lovely and sweet song! I love it.
Do you?
Yes, Of course, I do. Everybody loves it. But what made you listen to the above song?
Well ... I viewed the following DVD the other day.
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You borrowed it from Joe Fortes Library, didn't you?
Yes, I did.
How did you like it?
Oh, I enjoyed it very much, and actually felt as if I'd lived with Leonardo da Vinci for 67 years in the 270-minute docu-drama.
The Life of Leonardo da Vinci
(part 1)
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(part 2)
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You found the above video clips for me, didn't you?
Yes, I did. I want you to share the wonder and joy with me.
Do you really mean it?
Oh, yes, most definitely. That's why I left my comment as follows:
This landmark film is a 270-minute 5-part documentary-drama that offers an exciting look into the mystery, myth and secrets of the most dynamic figure at the heart of the Renaissance.
Born out of wedlock to a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence, Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio.
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Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan.
He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded him by Francis I.
Little is known about Leonardo's early life.
He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother, then from 1457 he lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci.
His father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young.
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When Leonardo was sixteen his father married again, to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini.
It was not until his third and fourth marriages that Ser Piero produced legitimate heirs.
Between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina among his dependents in his taxation documents.
When she died in 1495, the list of funeral expenditures suggests that she was his mother.
After 1495, Leonardo had never mentioned Caterina.
Why? It is indeed a big puzzle.
So, Kato, you're wondering why Leonardo had never mentioned Caterina after 1495, aren't you?
Actually, I've been wondering quite a while; so much so that I wrote an article.
(To be followed)