(44) Veni, vidi ... da Vinci?
On the afternoon of May 24th 1989 I was reading from a biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Ludwig Goldschneider published by Phaidon in 1959.
It is a commentary upon a biography of Leonardo by Giorgio Vasari from 1568, which is included in Goldschneider's book.
On page 23 there was a note, a reference to a play on words:
Here follows in the original text an epigram by Messer Giovan Battista Strozzi in praise of Leonardo: Vince costui pur solo Tutti altri, e vince Fidia e vince Apelle E tutto il lor vittorioso stuolo.
This play upon words — ́vincere ́, to vanquish, and Vinci — cannot be translated into English.
The meaning of the epigram is roughly:
"Single-handed he vanquished all the others, Phidias, Apelles, and their whole victorious troop."
I wondered whether the verb for to conquer was precisely the same in mediaeval Italian as in the Latin from which that language must have developed.
The only usage in Latin that came to mind was Caesar's famous comment, "Veni, vidi, vici."
I found myself playing around with that and Strozzi's epigram to produce "Veni, vidi, Vinci."
The following evening I was watching Channel 4 News.
An item was broadcast about the restoration of a Leonardo cartoon of The virgin of the rocks Virgin of the Rocks - Wikipedia which had been blasted in the National Gallery twenty-three months earlier by someone with a shotgun, and which was now being put back on display for the first time.
The presenter announced that they would be showing this item after the commercial break, and then they went into that break with an introductory caption showing across the screen.
It ran: Veni, vidi,... da Vinci?
(Btw, in The Sunday Times of August 19th 2001 there was the headline Veni, Vidi, Vinci apropos some takeovers initiated by a firm called Vinci.)
... ... ... ...
For further coincidences involving the painting, that very same play on Leonardo ́s name (even perhaps unintentional!?) and the search into the origins of Christ and Christmas, see Entries
It is a commentary upon a biography of Leonardo by Giorgio Vasari from 1568, which is included in Goldschneider's book.
On page 23 there was a note, a reference to a play on words:
Here follows in the original text an epigram by Messer Giovan Battista Strozzi in praise of Leonardo: Vince costui pur solo Tutti altri, e vince Fidia e vince Apelle E tutto il lor vittorioso stuolo.
This play upon words — ́vincere ́, to vanquish, and Vinci — cannot be translated into English.
The meaning of the epigram is roughly:
"Single-handed he vanquished all the others, Phidias, Apelles, and their whole victorious troop."
I wondered whether the verb for to conquer was precisely the same in mediaeval Italian as in the Latin from which that language must have developed.
The only usage in Latin that came to mind was Caesar's famous comment, "Veni, vidi, vici."
I found myself playing around with that and Strozzi's epigram to produce "Veni, vidi, Vinci."
The following evening I was watching Channel 4 News.
An item was broadcast about the restoration of a Leonardo cartoon of The virgin of the rocks Virgin of the Rocks - Wikipedia which had been blasted in the National Gallery twenty-three months earlier by someone with a shotgun, and which was now being put back on display for the first time.
The presenter announced that they would be showing this item after the commercial break, and then they went into that break with an introductory caption showing across the screen.
It ran: Veni, vidi,... da Vinci?
(Btw, in The Sunday Times of August 19th 2001 there was the headline Veni, Vidi, Vinci apropos some takeovers initiated by a firm called Vinci.)
... ... ... ...
And here is Dan Brown's fictionalised threat of vandalism to the other version of this painting here - The Da Vinci Code: A clue on Da Vinci's Mona Lisa (HD CLIP) (youtube.com)
For further coincidences involving the painting, that very same play on Leonardo ́s name (even perhaps unintentional!?) and the search into the origins of Christ and Christmas, see Entries
Comments
Your blog is light years ahead of the dross that freefalls through my newsfeed.
I'm a keen historian; and the subject of coincidence, together with all associated experiences, theories, and opinions I find irresistible,
Anthea
Blow that sax for me any time, lady!