The Secret of the Mona Lisa
Channel: Curiosity Channel (DStv 185)
TX Time: 22h00
Genre: Documentary, Mystery
The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous painting in the world. It hangs in the Louvre, as everyone knows.
Her real name according to art history is "La Gioconda", writes Giorgio Vasari, the chronicler of the Renaissance, in his diary.
For many years though, there have been doubts: why did Leonardo not hand the portrait on to the commissioner if it was a picture of his wife?
What is the secret behind the "real" Mona Lisa? Who was she really? And why was even a Medici afraid of the true identity being revealed to his contemporaries and to Pope Leo X?
"La Gioconda" can be traced to Francesco del Giocondo, a rich Florentine merchant, and the Mona Lisa is the portrait of his wife Lisa del Giocondo.
That much to the evidence-backed history of the painting. For many years though, there have been doubts, and they have never been more virulent than now.
Because it was never really satisfactorily explained why Leonardo did not hand the portrait on to the commissioner if it was a picture of his wife.
Or why the merchant never demanded the portrait from the artist, who, during his own lifetime was already considered a genius and was highly paid.
A picture by him was a substantial monetary investment, and it is hardly conceivable that someone would willingly forego that.
Unless the merchant never received the painting because it was unfinished. But then the Mona Lisa would not have been Lisa del Giocondo, but someone else.
The well-founded new theory is as follows: the Mona Lisa is a portrait commissioned by Giuliano de' Medici, the brother of Medici Pope Leo X., for Leonardo to paint; a portrait of his deceased love and the mother of his son Ippolto, as a kind of stand-in photograph for him, to be painted from memory.
And that would explain the quizzical smile: she is smiling at the growing young Medici son.
Why, though, would this theory, which so many art historians the world over are excited about, so long have been suppressed?
What is the secret behind the "real" Mona Lisa? Who was she really?
And why was even a Medici afraid that the true identity would be revealed to his contemporaries and to Pope Leo X?
Is the search to uncover the secret of the Mona Lisa also a search to reveal the inner workings of the relationship between power and genius, and this in an epoch that was so profusely peopled by geniuses as well as political murders?
That is exactly the crux of the matter.
The search for the identity of the Mona Lisa homes in on the inner circle of the absolute art genius and a realm of immeasurable power, which, to this day, is embodied by the name and fame of the clan of the Medici.
Thus, this documentation is a true "detective story" of the most contemporary historical and art historical standard and the search for the truth focuses on the most famous painting in the world.
Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Documentary, History
From a chance meeting to a tragic fallout, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali's extraordinary bond cracks under the weight of distrust and shifting ideals.
For three pivotal years, Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X forged a brotherhood that would not only change both men but change the world.
Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali tells the extraordinary story behind the friendship — and the ultimate falling out — of two of the most iconic figures of the 20th century.
Few people understand the bond these men shared.
This feature-length documentary offers a fresh perspective by using insider voices and never-before-seen footage to chart this most complex of friendships, tracing the near simultaneous and symbiotic rise of the charismatic and outspoken Olympic champion who charmed the nation, and the ex-con-turned intellectual revolutionary who railed against oppression.
Through interviews with those closest to them — Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz, Ali's brother Rahman and daughters Maryum and Hana — and cultural luminaries such as Cornel West and Al Sharpton, the film illuminates their meeting, bonding, and eventual falling out over discord within the leadership of the Nation of Islam.