More than what meets the eye कैनवस के पीछे क्या है ?

More than what meets the eye

by Rajbir Deswal
To be able to read between the lines means the clairvoyance to comprehend what is actually intended to be conveyed. But how about going micromillimetres distance between the canvas and the brush to identify as to how many layers of visuals rest there? And also that, what exactly should one pose in a portrait show-up? Isn't it all really mystifying? It may be true! It may be false!
An Italian scientist-journalist by the name Piero Angela claims to have discovered Leonardo Da Vinci's self-portrait, by going down the surface of a manuscript — Codex on the Flight of Birds, employing a micro-pixel work. A facial reconstruction scientist in Rome has even endorsed Angela's claim. What is interesting is the fact of the "resurrected" Renaissance genius's young looks, appearing twin-like when compared to his portrait showing him up in wrinkles, and with hollow cheeks.
Another world famous portrait of Renaissance, "Mona Lisa", created by Leonardo, has been in the news for various interpretations, inter alia, of the pose of the wealthy merchant's wife. That she wears a thin and gauzy stole around her neck, confirms her being in a family way, going by the mores prevalent then. That she is hiding her pregnancy with one hand above the other also confirms it. Arguments are too many, but takers some.
The latest to hit the market is the news about an Anglo-Irish family, preserving Shakespeare's portrait inherited from the Earl of Southampton, showing him with not only younger looks, but also betraying his humble background and nowhere-near-wealthy status. That having moved to London and having written his famous plays, the Bard of Avon grew popular and wealthy in the Elizabethan times, made him look more "presentable and less solemn" if one has to believe Shakespeare "experts" and "scholars" .
Nearer home, the National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal has come out with five rare photographs showing Mahatma Gandhi with a cow named Jill. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya is also seen in one of the pictures. Claims have been made of the photos taken when Gandhi attended a two-week course at the institute to learn the basics of dairying and keeping cows, for his Sabarmati Ashram.
The latest revelation has been made regarding the legendry Bhagat Singh's photo, taken shortly before his hanging, for keeping it in records. A portrait showing Chandra Shekhar Azad, twirling his moustache in front of a mirror, is again disputed if it had been a replica of the original photo taken without the martyr's knowledge.
I cannot help mentioning about a movie, "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", showing the redoubtable and inimitable Boman Irani to be someone obsessively interested in doctoring his life-size images, as if "actually" standing for a pose with celebrities. And for that matter, of all times! Who knows five hundred years from now, someone may come up with a theory that Boman was a President of the United States and Obama played character roles in Bollywood flicks.
However, what Ben Johnson says in commendation of the Martin Droeshout engraving of Shakespeare is worthy of taking note: "This Figure, that thou here seest put/It was for gentle Shakespeare cut... His face; the print would then surpasse/All, that was ever writ in brasse/But, since he cannot, Reader, looke/Not on his Picture, but his booke".

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