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Monday, March 4, 2013

Faces, No Two Are Alike ... Or Are They?


Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
Leonardo da Vinci
1503

The Mona Lisa is the most famous portrait, and arguably the most famous painting.  By today's standards, she would not be considered "cosmetically" beautiful, but her expression still speaks to us from 510 years ago.  Da Vinci captured her perfectly.  He was also not able to paint her hands correctly, and if you look closely, you can see where he has made a couple of attempts to correct the position of her fingers on her left hand.  To me, that gives the painting a human touch -- no pun intended.  But her face is what draws the eye.  The words most used to describe her are enigmatic and mysterious.  Our faces tell so much about us; a movement of a single muscle can change our expressions and convey a message to the people observing us.

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by human faces.  Like snowflakes, no two faces are alike, but sometimes they can be very close.  Last weekend when I was watching all the celebrities prancing and preening walking the red carpet, all that was going through my mind was, "Hey!  She looks just like..." or "He looks just like..."  It was a hoot.  So, in no particular order, and for no reason whatsoever except it's fun, I put some faces together.  See what you think.

Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain


Michelle Williams and Carey Mulligan


Julia Roberts and Steven Tyler


James Marsden and Rachel McAdams
If they ever married and had children, their kids would look just like both parents.

The next time you're standing in line at the supermarket, or in a crowd of people anywhere, check out people's faces.  They're fascinating and amazing, and you will always find someone who look just like someone else.

6 comments:

  1. I don't know where you find these resemblances, but they're great! I love that you thought I look like Dana Delaney...as if imho, but thanks for the compliment!

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  2. You're dead right Jo. I've said "Hello Marjorie..." to a complete stranger in Tesco's deli dept one day. Doppelganger of my SIL. Very unusual, but it DOES happen.

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  3. Wow, you are good! Those are amazingly alike! I once attended a training where the speaker started us off by scanning through the crowd and picking out someone who looks like someone famous. It was quite funny. He said he does that at every session and can always find a look-alike.

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  4. Those are great! I enjoyed noticing how similar each person is to their "twin." And I do notice similarities between people I see on the street and celebrities. :-)

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  5. Cute. I never would have thought to match up Steven Tyler and Julia Roberts!

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  6. One of my wife and my habits are trying to give people famous parents, genetically only, we don't worry with genders. For instance the guy that played Moses in History Channel's Bible, looks like if Chuck Norris and Oliver Reed had a son. I thought our description was far more charitable than the Charles Manson / Mickey Rourke that a review attributed to him.

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