#also the art theft 💔

[fagonite]

hey uhhh jic this is an issue for u guys too there’s a horny on main acc posting like stolen artwork and really detailed sex rp without any indication that’s what the blogs for incase u wanna block. i won’t just link it bc it’s like literally porn but if anyone wants the url to block lmk

#like i dont care if youre posting badly written sex rp just like . say ANYTHING in your bio warning minors thats what the acc is for??? #not here to kinkshame or whatever i just… c’mon bro #also the art theft 💔 #meow

[modernwizard]

Why I love the Spymaster #101: He's the Mona Lisa!

Find my full series under the HELP I WUVS HIM tag.

#101: He's the Mona Lisa!

This is it, folks: my 100th entry in the list of reasons I love the Spymaster! [It's coming as #101 because I listed his hair as two separate reasons accidentally. Whoops!]

I talk about the Spymaster's use of classic paintings of modern Western art elsewhere in my list. #61: Playing even more with gender! notes that he substitutes himself in three paintings into the position of women. #79: The Scream! 💔 points out that his use of the painting illustrates his struggles with mental health. #100: His art collection! examines why he turns to famous paintings that are considered classics.

This mini essay looks specifically at why he puts himself in the place of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

I can think of a few reasons:

The subject is considered to be a great beauty. We know that the Spymaster cares about his looks, being a confirmed fashionista [#68]. He also wishes for a constant audience to reassure him that he's fascinating and wonderful. By sticking himself in the place of a woman who has received compliments and attention for her beauty for centuries, he assumes those compliments and attention for himself.

The subject is mysterious. Recently it has been definitively identified as Lisa Gherardini, wife of Frederick del Giocondo, but, before then, speculation ran rampant about who the mystery woman was. The subject's expression, which gives rise to the term "Mona Lisa smile," meaning an unreadable smile, has also been a subject of debate. With his penchant for enigmas and disguises, the Spymaster probably likes taking the place of the subject and becoming an enduring conundrum too.

The subject is beloved, as is the painting. Presumably de Giocondo commissioned da Vinci to paint Gherardini as a way to demonstrate the esteem and affection he had for his wife. Furthermore, the painting itself is beloved, being arguably the most visited, most popular most parodied, and most well-known artwork worldwide. The Spymaster wishes he were that popular. Plus he wants to be beloved too [by the Doctor].

The painting endures. It has lasted for hundreds of years, despite wars and other political upheaval, theft, restoration, and attempted vandalism. You know -- kind of like the Spymaster.

The painting has been used as a canvas for gender-bending. [H/T @sclfmastery the art historian for bringing this to my attention!] In 1919 Dadaist Marcel Duchamp drew a mustache on a postcard of the painting and called the work L.H.O.O.Q., or She Has a Hot Ass in English. [If you read the letters aloud in French, it sounds the same as Elle a chaud au cul.] In 1954 Surrealist artist Salvador Dali painted Self Portrait as the Mona Lisa, blending his features -- particularly the prominent eyes, fanciful facial hair, and hands -- with those of the subject. [See black and white picture below.] By putting himself as Ra-Ra-Rasputin in the painting, the Spymaster joins a long tradition of shocking, absurdist stunts designed to command the public's the Doctor's attention.

@sclfmastery @natalunasans @whovianuncle @timeladyjamie @rowanthestrange

#the master #the spymaster #HELP I WUVS HIM #sacha dhawan #doctor who #dw meta #the power of the doctor #mona lisa #the mona lisa #classics of western art #he wants to be the beloved #he wants to be the center of attention #art history #surrealism #dadaism #leonardo da vinci