Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: an architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, musician, and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius, a man infinitely curious and infinitely inventive. He is considered one of the greatest painters who ever lived.
Mona Lisa, da Vinci's famous portrait of an Italian noblewoman, has been featured or spoofed in many Muppet productions and merchandise items. Jim Henson's earliest use of the Mona Lisa is in the 1965 short film Time Piece, in which the main character shoots the painting. Another frequently parodied da Vinci work is the Vitruvian Man, a diagram of a nude male figure meant to illustrate the correlations of ideal human proportions.
References[]
Mona Lisa[]
- Miss Piggy
"Scooter's Hidden Talent"
Ready for Preschool
"At the Art Museum"
- Cookie Monster
- Others
"The Stream"
-S02E01-TheFroginizer-MonaLisa.png "MuppetBabies-(2018)-S02E01-TheFroginizer-MonaLisa.png (592 KB)")
"The Froginizer"
"You Ought to Be in Pictures"
-S02E09-MonaGonzo.png "MuppetBabies-(2018)-S02E09-MonaGonzo.png (2.46 MB)")
"Beaker 2.0"
The Vitruvian Man[]
Other references[]
Animal as Leonardo da Vinci on Muppets Now.
- Baby Kermit tells the story of his ancestor, Leonardo da Frog, in the Muppet Babies episode "Scooter's Hidden Talent". He designs the world's first helicopter and pilots it around "somewhere in Italy" looking for a subject to paint (causing the tilt in the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the process). He ultimately finds Mona Piggy who convinces him to make her the most famous painting in history.
- Da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci appears in the Muppet Babies episode "The Muppet Museum of Art". During the "Art Is in Your Heart" montage, it takes a pair of binoculars away from its face.
- The Last Supper appears on the wall in the Fiama home in episode 212 of Muppets Tonight.
- When Clifford needs a guest star in the Muppets Tonight episode "The Cameo Show", he says they need to find someone "with the wisdom of Solomon, the vision of da Vinci and the brilliance of Einstein."
- In his book Before You Leap, Kermit again talks about his ancestors, including Leonardo Da Frog, "who first gained fame as an artist and inventor before really hitting it big selling cheap decoder rings to gullible tourists."
- The Cookie Thief features various cookie-related spoofs of the artist and his works. Leonardo da Crunchy, famous cookie artist, is shown to have painted Self-Portrait, Lady With Cookie, Vitruvian Gingerbread Man and the most famous piece of cookie art - the Muncha Lisa.
- An animated Animal portrays Leonardo da Vinci during a "Muppet Labs Field Test" segment in the Muppets Now episode "Sleep Mode."
Notes[]
- His name was also borrowed for Leonardo, one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in the eponymous Creature Shop film and its sequel.