ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Siegfried Woldhek - Illustrator
Siegfried Woldhek knows faces -- he's drawn more than 1,100 of them. Using sophisticated image analysis and his own skills as an artist, he's come up with a fascinating discovery about Leonardo Da Vinci.

Why you should listen

The work of illustrator Siegfried Woldhek is a familiar sight in the European press. His witty pen and sharp eye for faces helps him capture political and literary figures in his home country, the Netherlands, and around the world (he estimates he's drawn 1,100 faces). He's also an accomplished illustrator of nature, and was the longtime CEO of the Dutch branch of the World Wildlife Fund.

Woldhek is the founder of nabuur.com, "the global neighbor network." On nabuur.com, villages in developing communities can connect with volunteers and resources online throughout the world -- sort of a Match.com that pairs communities with the people who'd like to get involved.

More profile about the speaker
Siegfried Woldhek | Speaker | TED.com
TED2008

Siegfried Woldhek: The search for the true face of Leonardo

Siegfried Woldhek mostra como ele descobriu o verdadeiro rosto de Leonardo

Filmed:
1,343,993 views

Mona Lisa é um dos mais bem conhecidas rostos do planeta. Mas você reconheceria uma imagem de Leonardo da Vinci? O ilustrador Siegfried Woldhek usa técnicas elaboradas de análise de imagem para descobrir o que ele acha ser o verdadeiro rosto de Leonardo.
- Illustrator
Siegfried Woldhek knows faces -- he's drawn more than 1,100 of them. Using sophisticated image analysis and his own skills as an artist, he's come up with a fascinating discovery about Leonardo Da Vinci. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Good morning.
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Bom dia.
00:14
Let's look for a minute at the greatest icon of all, Leonardo da Vinci.
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Vamos olhar por um minuto para o maior ícone de todos, Leonardo da Vinci.
00:19
We're all familiar with his fantastic work --
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Somos familiarizados com seu trabalho fantástico --
00:22
his drawings, his paintings, his inventions, his writings.
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seus desenhos, suas pinturas, suas invenções, suas escrituras.
00:25
But we do not know his face.
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Mas não conhecemos seu rosto.
00:27
Thousands of books have been written about him,
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Milhares de livros foram escritos sobre ele.
00:30
but there's controversy, and it remains, about his looks.
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mas há controvérsia, que se mantém, sobre sua aparência.
00:34
Even this well-known portrait is not accepted by many art historians.
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Até mesmo esse retrato bem conhecido não é aceito pelos historiadores.
00:39
So, what do you think?
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Então o que você acha?
00:41
Is this the face of Leonardo da Vinci or isn't it?
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Esse é o rosto de Leonardo da Vinci ou não?
00:44
Let's find out.
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Vamos descobrir.
00:47
Leonardo was a man that drew everything around him.
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Leonardo foi um homem que desenhava tudo ao seu redor.
00:50
He drew people, anatomy, plants, animals, landscapes, buildings, water, everything.
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Ele desenhou pessoas, anatomia, plantas, animais, paisagens, prédios, água, tudo.
00:58
But no faces?
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Mas nehum rosto?
01:00
I find that hard to believe.
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Acho difícil de acreditar.
01:02
His contemporaries made faces, like the ones you see here --
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Seus conteporâneos faziam rostos, como estes aqui.
01:05
en face or three-quarters.
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Rostos inteiros ou perfis.
01:07
So, surely a passionate drawer like Leonardo
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Então um desenhista apaixonado como Leonardo
01:10
must have made self-portraits from time to time.
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deve ter feito autorretratos de tempos em tempos.
01:14
So let's try to find them.
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Vamos tentar descobrir os retratos.
01:16
I think that if we were to scan all of his work
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Eu acho que se analisássemos todo seu trabalho
01:19
and look for self-portraits, we would find his face looking at us.
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e procurássemos por autorretratos, encontraríamos seu rosto olhando para nós.
01:23
So I looked at all of his drawings, more than 700,
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Então pesquisei seus desenhos, mais de 700,
01:27
and looked for male portraits.
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e procurei retratos de homens.
01:30
There are about 120, you see them here.
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Há por volta de 120, eles estão aqui.
01:33
Which ones of these could be self-portraits?
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Quais poderiam ser seus autorretratos?
01:35
Well, for that they have to be done as we just saw, en face or three-quarters.
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Bem, para isso eles deveriam ter sido feito como nós acabamos de ver, rosto inteiro ou de perfil.
01:40
So we can eliminate all the profiles.
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Então podemos eliminar todos esses perfis.
01:43
It also has to be sufficiently detailed.
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E tem de ser bem detalhado.
01:45
So we can also eliminate the ones that are very vague or very stylized.
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Podemos elimar os que são muito vagos ou estilizados.
01:51
And we know from his contemporaries
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E sabemos de seus conteporâneos.
01:53
that Leonardo was a very handsome, even beautiful man.
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que Leonardo foi muito bonito, um homem muito bonito.
01:56
So we can also eliminate the ugly ones or the caricatures.
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Então podemos eliminar os feios e as caricaturas.
02:00
(Laughter)
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( risos)
02:01
And look what happens -- only three candidates remain that fit the bill.
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E olhe o que acontece -- somente três candidatos continuam na corrida.
02:06
And here they are.
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e aqui estão eles.
02:08
Yes, indeed, the old man is there,
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Sim claro, o velho está aqui,
02:10
as is this famous pen drawing of the Homo Vitruvianus.
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Como nesse famoso desenho do Homem Vitruviano.
02:13
And lastly, the only portrait of a male that Leonardo painted, "The Musician."
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E por último, o único retrato de um homem que Leonardo pintou, "Retrato de um músico."
02:18
Before we go into these faces,
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Antes de revelarmos os rostos,
02:20
I should explain why I have some right to talk about them.
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Eu deveria explicar porque tenho algum direito de falar deles.
02:23
I've made more than 1,100 portraits myself
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Eu mesmo já fiz mais de 1.100 retratos
02:27
for newspapers, over the course of 300 -- 30 years, sorry, 30 years only.
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para jornais, mais de 300 -- 30 anos, desculpe, 30 anos somente.
02:31
(Laughter)
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(risos)
02:32
But there are 1,100, and very few artists have drawn so many faces.
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Mas há 1.100, e poucos artistas já desenharam tantos rostos.
02:37
So I know a little about drawing and analyzing faces.
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Então eu sei um pouco sobre desenho e análise de rostos.
02:40
OK, now let's look at these three portraits.
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Ok, agora vamos olhar esses três retratos.
02:43
And hold onto your seats, because if we zoom in on those faces,
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E segurem-se em suas cadeiras, porque se dermos um zoom nesses rostos,
02:46
remark how they have the same broad forehead, the horizontal eyebrows,
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olhem como eles têm a mesma testa larga, e sombrancelhas horizontais,
02:50
the long nose, the curved lips and the small, well-developed chin.
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o nariz longo, os lábios curvados e o queixo pequeno e bem desenvolvido.
02:53
I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw that.
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Não consegui acreditar em meus olhos quando vi pela primeira vez.
02:56
There is no reason why these portraits should look alike.
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Não há motivos para semelhança entre esses retratos
02:58
All we did was look for portraits that had the characteristics of a self-portrait,
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Tudo que fizemos foi procurar retratos que tinham características de autorretratos,
03:02
and look, they are very similar.
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e olhem, eles são muito semelhantes.
03:04
Now, are they made in the right order?
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Agora, eles foram feitos na ordem correta?
03:07
The young man should be made first.
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O jovem homem deveria ser o primeiro.
03:09
And as you see here from the years that they were created,
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E como pode-se ver aqui os anos que foram criados,
03:11
it is indeed the case.
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é realmente o caso.
03:13
They are made in the right order.
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Foram feitos na ordem correta.
03:15
What was the age of Leonardo at the time? Does that fit?
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Qual era a idade de Leonardo nessa época? Encaixa?
03:17
Yes, it does. He was 33, 38 and 63 when these were made.
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Sim. Ele tinha 33, 38 e 68 quanto estes foram feitos.
03:20
So we have three pictures, potentially of the same person
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Então temos três pinturas, potencialmente da mesma pessoa
03:24
of the same age as Leonardo at the time.
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da mesma idade de Leonardo na época.
03:26
But how do we know it's him, and not someone else?
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Mas como sabemos que é ele e não outra pessoa?
03:29
Well, we need a reference.
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Bem, precisamos de referência.
03:31
And here's the only picture of Leonardo that's widely accepted.
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E aqui está a único figura de Leonardo que é amplamente aceita.
03:35
It's a statue made by Verrocchio, of David,
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é uma estátua feita por Verrochio, de David.
03:38
for which Leonardo posed as a boy of 15.
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Na qual Leonardo pousou quando tinha 15.
03:40
And if we now compare the face of the statue,
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E se agora compararmos o rosto da estátua,
03:43
with the face of the musician, you see the very same features again.
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com o rosto do músico, você pode ver as mesmas características novamente.
03:47
The statue is the reference, and it connects the identity of Leonardo
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A estátua é a referência, e conecta a identidade de Leonardo
03:50
to those three faces.
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aos outros três rostos.
03:52
Ladies and gentlemen, this story has not yet been published.
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Senhoras e senhores, esta história não foi publicada ainda.
03:57
It's only proper that you here at TED hear and see it first.
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É mais que adequado que vocês a vissem e ouvissem primeiramente aqui no TED.
04:00
The icon of icons finally has a face.
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O ícone dos ícones finalmente tem um rosto.
04:03
Here he is: Leonardo da Vinci.
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Aqui está -- Leonardo da Vinci.
04:05
(Applause)
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(aplausos)
Translated by Belucio Haibara
Reviewed by Eduardo Caraver

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Siegfried Woldhek - Illustrator
Siegfried Woldhek knows faces -- he's drawn more than 1,100 of them. Using sophisticated image analysis and his own skills as an artist, he's come up with a fascinating discovery about Leonardo Da Vinci.

Why you should listen

The work of illustrator Siegfried Woldhek is a familiar sight in the European press. His witty pen and sharp eye for faces helps him capture political and literary figures in his home country, the Netherlands, and around the world (he estimates he's drawn 1,100 faces). He's also an accomplished illustrator of nature, and was the longtime CEO of the Dutch branch of the World Wildlife Fund.

Woldhek is the founder of nabuur.com, "the global neighbor network." On nabuur.com, villages in developing communities can connect with volunteers and resources online throughout the world -- sort of a Match.com that pairs communities with the people who'd like to get involved.

More profile about the speaker
Siegfried Woldhek | Speaker | TED.com

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