The Mona Lisa Vanishes: List 3

by Nicholas Day
This nonfiction narrative traces how Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century painting of an ordinary Italian wife and mother became the most recognizable face in the world.

This list covers "Everything That it is Possible to Do"–"Marry or Else."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 42 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. influential
    having or exercising power
    Today this painting—this underpainting—is among the most famous artworks in the Uffizi, the Florence museum stuffed with famous paintings. It has been called the most influential unfinished painting in all of art history.
  2. ambitious
    having a strong desire for success or achievement
    The duke is impatient and ambitious, and he spends money lavishly.
  3. patronage
    the act of providing approval and support
    Leonardo writes the duke a letter, asking to serve the court. The letter is a request for patronage, a sort of job application.
  4. contrive
    make or work out a plan for; devise
    “In short,” Leonardo concludes modestly, “I can contrive an infinite variety of machines for attack or defense.”
  5. virtuoso
    a musician who is a consummate master of artistry
    He’s introduced as a musician.
    Leonardo is in fact a virtuoso of the lyre, a sort of early viola.
  6. improvise
    perform without preparation
    He sings and improvises his own poems while he plays.
  7. meticulous
    marked by precise accordance with details
    In Milan, he makes a meticulous record of the human body.
  8. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    Down on the ground, he devises spectacles for the duke.
  9. extravaganza
    any lavishly staged or spectacular entertainment
    This is a time of festivals and carnivals, of extraordinary theatrical pageants. Each extravaganza is expected to surpass its predecessors; no expense is spared.
  10. predecessor
    one who goes before you in time
    Each extravaganza is expected to surpass its predecessors; no expense is spared.
  11. varnish
    a coating that provides a hard, lustrous finish to a surface
    In a notebook, he writes: “Boil ten pounds of brandy to evaporate, but see that the room is completely closed and throw up some powdered varnish among the fumes. Then enter the room suddenly with a lighted torch, and at once it will set ablaze.”
  12. posterity
    all future generations
    He never lives for posterity, and he has no idea that future generations will mourn not having more artwork from him.
  13. endure
    last and be usable
    Getting something done, making sure it will endure: people will say that these are not Leonardo’s strengths.
  14. bestow
    give as a gift
    “See how beautiful this horse is; Leonardo da Vinci alone has created it. Sculptor, fine painter, fine mathematician, so great an intellect rarely does Heaven bestow.”
  15. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    The statue really was an unprecedented project.
  16. fresco
    a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster
    The standard way to paint a fresco—a painting on a wall—is to use water-based paints on fresh plaster.
  17. primer
    the first or preliminary coat of paint applied to a surface
    He coats the dry plaster wall with primer and then uses a mixture of oil and water paints.
  18. muddle
    a confused multitude of things
    Within a few decades, the paint begins to flake away. Then it falls off altogether. Within a half century, it is hardly there. It’s described as a “muddle of blots.”
  19. inept
    generally incompetent and ineffectual
    In the short film, the Louvre administration is incompetent, the police are inept, and the museum is in pandemonium.
  20. incompetence
    lack of physical or intellectual ability or qualifications
    The incompetence of the Louvre was now a national joke.
  21. indifference
    the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
    “There is not even one guard per gallery. The situation is one of carelessness, negligence, indifference.”
  22. contempt
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    She was smiling because she was filled with contempt—for all the people who “paraded endlessly in front of me.”
  23. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    From England, with typical understatement: “There appears to be much mystery associated with the affair.”
  24. prominent
    conspicuous in position or importance
    The Mona Lisa became the most prominent face in the world, staring out of every newsstand.
  25. stock
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    In the absence of anything real, the same sort of stock characters kept coming up.
  26. generic
    relating to or applicable to an entire class or group
    These were types of people, like generic actors in a bad movie, but these imaginary people drove the investigation: they affected how the police thought about who was guilty, who was innocent, and who was worth another look.
  27. infatuated
    marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
    The idea of the infatuated Secret Admirer loomed large throughout the investigation.
  28. consummate
    having or revealing supreme mastery or skill
    The Consummate Professional was able to steal the Mona Lisa because he was the Consummate Professional: experienced, meticulous, motivated. The scale of the theft was a job for a Consummate Professional, not a Secret Admirer or a Lone Madman.
  29. stupendous
    so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe
    When Napoleon, the French emperor, invaded Italy at the end of the eighteenth century, he arrived with lists of what he wanted: hundreds of paintings, prints, sculptures. His army stacked it up and shipped it out. It was a stupendous haul, and it wasn’t a secret.
  30. plunder
    goods or money obtained illegally
    Then it was all put on display: Most of the Italian art in the Louvre had been stolen by Napoleon. The Salon Carré was lined with his plunder.
  31. eccentric
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    For decades before the Mona Lisa theft, he’d been suspected of every con, every forgery, every eccentric scheme: if the job was brilliant, it might be the work of Adam Worth.
  32. abstract
    not representing or imitating external reality
    “He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker.”
  33. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    The mark of a Worth job was impeccable planning, and he applied the same rigor to his own life: he carefully acquired all the qualities of a gentleman and moved to England, where he held court in a London mansion.
  34. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    The Duchess theft was the greatest art heist in history until the Mona Lisa went missing. The parallels were uncanny. A beautiful woman. A legendary portrait. A smitten thief. A crime that showed patience and daring.
  35. smitten
    marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
    The Duchess theft was the greatest art heist in history until the Mona Lisa went missing. The parallels were uncanny. A beautiful woman. A legendary portrait. A smitten thief. A crime that showed patience and daring.
  36. distinguished
    befitting an eminent person
    Lisa Gherardini is the daughter of Lucrezia del Caccia and Antonmaria di Noldo Gherardini, a Florentine nobleman with a distinguished family history.
  37. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    The Medici brothers, who ruled Florence, were unimaginably prosperous and powerful. They were among the most formidable men in Europe, living proof of the rebirth of Florence.
  38. coup
    a sudden and decisive change of government by force
    The Medicis had powerful enemies. The coup was the work of rival Florentine families, especially the Pazzis, as well as Pope Sixtus IV, a sworn Medici foe. Once the attack was underway, the Pazzis expected support from the Florentine people—they thought the assassinations would spark a revolution.
  39. flounder
    have difficulties; behave awkwardly
    Within hours, the coup had floundered, and instead of seizing power, the Pazzis were themselves seized.
  40. papal
    proceeding from the head of the Roman Catholic Church
    But Pope Sixtus IV was not done. His papal forces joined with the Kingdom of Naples, and together their armies marched on Florence.
Created on Fri Jan 19 10:44:07 EST 2024 (updated Mon Jan 22 10:00:30 EST 2024)

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