9/10/2003: DaVinci theft

If you have a digital camera, you have a duty to take shots of everything. You never know what will become interesting later.

What you're looking at is the theft of DaVinci's Madonna with the Yarnwinder from a castle in Britain.

The shot was taken by a tourist, who was visiting from New Zealand. But actually she wasn't just shooting at random; she shot because she thought it might be a robbery. And it was.

"We heard the alarm going off and the first man climbed over the wall and said not to worry, 'Don't worry love, We're the police. This is just a practice' he said. When the second man came over the wall we felt something was going on."

And it was, the theft of a painting worth anywhere from 25 to 100 million pounds ($40-145 M).

full story

But at least one person says it's not a DaVinci after all.

the REALLY wierd bit is - I was on the way to this castle (about 30 minutes out) when this occured..

We ran into police roadblocks on the B-road we were on as we got closer.

Presumably, an enhancement of the pic will show the license plate...of course, I'd have to guess that the car was stolen as well.

Here's a link to a copy of the controversial artwork...
http://www.abcgallery.com/L/leonardo/leonardo29.html

digital images.

I didn't know you could really enhance digital images that much.

Oh, sure...they do it in spy movies all the time. You know the government keeps all the really good special effects...um...er...digital processing algorithms to themselves, don't you?

That is a very strange painting

Oh sure...they say it's fake AFTER the painting is stolen. That's pisspoor psychology.

I've never understood art theft...I mean, what the fuck are you going to do with it? You could sell it to an art fanatic and make over that way, but then what the fuck is the buyer going to do with it? How would you explain it to your friends when they come over?

That's the beauty of art. If you can afford it, you can buy it, lock it away in a little room...and then just look at it to your heart's content, and feel privleged.

Art is a very personal thing. Everyone reacts differently and individually to a work of art. I cannot honestly say that I've ever enjoyed viewing art more in a group than I have on my own.

Then again, the temptation to hang it in your living room and invite the entire PTA over would be strong. "That old thing? Oh, that's just a DaVinci I picked up the other day at the flea market."

Remember that part in "The Freshman", when Penelope Ann Miller tells Matthew Broderick that the Mona Lisa hanging over her mob daddy's (Marlon Brando) mantle is the real one, and the one in the Louvre is a cunning replacement?

And you can keep anyone else from looking at it if you wish.

Quote:

Originally posted by Elspode Oh, sure...they do it in spy movies all the time. You know the government keeps all the really good special effects...um...er...digital processing algorithms to themselves, don't you?

They took shuttle photos (and movie film) to the Kodak plant in NY state. They, did some amazing things.

There's definitely enough information in that image to get at least a partial plate. Particularly given you know the font and the possibilities. My algorithm reveals

MS96 XBP

Though the M and the B are rather doubtful.

MS 96 X B P You mean Bill Gates is behind this too.

Yep. He bought the manuscripts and now he's taking the art, any which way he can.

actually, I expect it was the newpaper that blurred the plate. I remember the radio giving out the car registration number, along with the description of the vehicle.

That seems sort of silly...why would you blur the very information that might help solve the crime, especially when it had already been released over the radio?

Might be a "quality of image" issue rather than an "intentional obfuscation" issue.

Of course, if the museum had been attempting not to have it discovered that it had a fake ... curiouser and curiouser.

Things like this are often stolen 'on order' as well, so there is high chance it was 'sold' per se before they even stole it.