monita la lisa

daVinci's lover salai is thought to the painter behind this mona lisa doppelganger. perhaps they were painted at the same time, in the same room, within the same few feet of each other, they say, changes made within hours of one another...salai's mona rendering is brighter, having been restored, has more ambiguity (if possible), offers a different sensitivity, than daVinci's no? something is more refined in her interpretation of this eternal face...though perhaps what looks like sfumato is actually years of varnish upon layers of varnish on daVinci's version. either way, this is wonderful. for me it means no man is an island; a notion i presumed to be true of most artists, some time ago. it means that for most, we cannot deny artistically that which we see, experience, or live. it means we are, as makers, more entwined than we think, that we do not stand alone, that nothing try though you might to stand alone, we are but what time says we are. but ey, mona lisa though? could i get a date on friday? and if you're busy...