Leonardo....

Since, like thousands of others, I had hoped, going over to London for 2 days, to somehow wangle a ticket for the Leonardo
exhibition at the National Gallery, and hadn't done so, I went with my husband to Leonardo Live, at Cinema 2 on 3rd ave. We had read the articles on the two Virgin of the Rocks paintings, in both the London and the New York Review of Books,.
Wasn't taken by the lovely presenting woman -- so like my least favorite kind of female -- but ah, how intelligent was what Fiona Shaw had to say, about the just found painting of Christ: seductive to the soul , she said. And how intelligent is her face: I had missed her as an actress when she came to New York a little while back, and was glad not to miss her now.
It was funny and not unpleasant to see the Leonardo questionnaire projected on the shot of the National Gallery for about 20 minutes before the film started: some merriment in the audience at the questions, but actually quite nice, and certainly better than the ads usually projected before the film. Much less splashy than the Peter Greenaway version of the Last Supper at the Armory, which I liked less than his Veronese seen in Venice. Good to see so many enthusiasts standing in line outside, very much of all ages.