JM: Among the not very exciting sightings just sent by Google Alert, we find that what "Mona Lisa Posted on April 11, 2012 by rmc02010" blogs.pomona.edu/rust185-2012s/2012/04/11/mona-lisa/, " carries several quotes from "Pnin" and a query: "So what’s wrong with red? It looks like there’s a little communism joke here, but maybe there’s more. Victor’s poem at least suggests that red is not an enduring color, and even has a kind of poisonous association..."

I'd been interested before in the contrast between Nabokov's lavish description of the different textures of fabric and the lack of detailed information about colored clothes in "Pnin", contrasting with his mention of colors through Lake's and Victor's painting classes. When I returned to Nabokov's original this time, there was one word that, again, struck a chord. Namely "skiagrapher." *

This time, instead of exploring the techniques of skiagraphy in painting and in medicine, I decided to explore its synonimous "shadowgraph" (keeping in mind Pnin's "shadow behind the heart"). I was led back to a VN-L long past exchange that mentions DB Johnson's "Lolithophany."** Also, Wikipedia that informs about the shadowgraph "an optical method that reveals non-uniformities in transparent media like air, water, or glass [ ] Shadowgraph is a type of flow visualisation. In principle, we cannot directly see a difference in temperature, a different gas, or a shock wave in the transparent air. However, all these disturbances refract light rays, so they can cast shadows. The plume of hot air rising from a fire, for example, can be seen by way of its shadow cast upon a nearby surface by the uniform sunlight[ ] This technique is as old as nature itself. For example, some aquatic predators detect their transparent prey by way of their shadows cast upon the ocean floor. Nevertheless it was Robert Hooke who first scientifically demonstrated the sunlight shadowgraph and Jean-Paul Marat who first used it to study fire [ ]Applications of shadowgraphy in science and technology are very broad. It is used in aeronautical engineering to see the flow about high-speed aircraft and missiles, as well as in combustion research, ballistics, explosions, and in the testing of glass." - where we get an interesting idea about Nabokov's scientific and artistic exploration of the techniques of making visible what is almost invisble, and the importance of words and names such as "The Shadows," "John Shade," "ombrioles" and "umber." Perhaps this is the most important point in the chapter about color wheels in Pnin.., namely Nabokov's fascination with hidden messages, transparencies and in what remains "unseen" except to an attentive explorer.

Not to stray too far from Leonardo's reds we can learn that: " (The philosopher Karl) Jaspers emphasizes that for Leonardo knowledge and one's understanding of nature is directly linked with vision and the supposed supremacy of vision over the other senses. D. van Maelsaeke, for his part, detects several similarities between Leonardo's natural philosophy and that of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, including a shared belief in the experimental method and in nature as a force with both creative and destructive qualities.While Leonardo's writings concerning philosophy are scattered throughout the Notebooks, his views on the role and nature of painting were written in complete enough form to be compiled as the Trattato della Pittura (1651) or Treatise of Painting (also referred to as Treatise on Painting)[...]Heydenreich goes on to discuss the content of the treatise, noting that it covers such topics as perspective; light and shade; color theory; practical applications of drawing and color; and the proportions, anatomy, and movement of the human form. " I'll also add excerpts about pigments used in watercolors and oil paintings *** and some interesting available entries about the vegetable "madder" and its use in the dyieing process**** Most of these items can be easily found in different sites and contain conflicting information...

Pomona's query about Victor's "Mona Lisa" poem and Lake's spectrum, though, remains unaswered. It seems that reds arenn't necessarily associated to poison and "bad," nor as a color it less enduring than the other dyes (perhaps it is a fragile pigment when applied to painting). As she notes: "In fact, dark red is basically glossed over in Lake’s modified color wheel" - and we may also enter a search for the "infrared," since I vaguely rememer its connection to X-Rays...# Nabokov's indirect color emphasis (by having "Lake gloss over red"), may now take us back to Victor's wish to paint "air" and to the aforementioned interest Nabokov expressed in the what I shall term the "shadowgraphic effects" in life and in literature.##

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* - Skiagraphy is "a.the process of making a radiograph; producing an image on a radiosensitive surface by radiation other than visible light; b.the technique of rilling in the outline of the shadow made by an object to create a pictorial work or shadowgraph."

Victor Wind "studied his mediums with the care and patience of an insatiable child — one of those painter's apprentices (it is now Lake who is dreaming!), lads with bobbed hair and bright eyes who would spend years grinding colours in the workshop of some great Italian skiagrapher, in a world of amber and paradisal glazes. At eight, he had once told his mother that he wanted to paint air. At nine, he had known the sensuous delight of a graded wash. What did it matter to him that gentle chiaroscuro, offspring of veiled values and translucent undertones, had long since died behind the prison bars of abstract art..." (I underlined Victor's project at 8)

** S K-B to Dieter Z: I add my praise ...Not only for the reasonable arguments recently posted, but for their Nabokovian humour and elegance. They admirably confirm your long, valued exposure to the Master [...] Yet am I the first to report the following suggestive support for DZ’s “ombriole” derivation [...] from VN’s Russian translation of “Speak Memory” [his mum is picking mushrooms, (II:3)] ...Clearly, VN’s “second thoughts” transformed the mundane “mist all around her” into the magical дымчатого ореола. It’s at least arguable that “aureole” graced a favoured place in VN’s lexis [...]Further, Joe Lavender’s naughty holograms (is this the word DJ used for projected 3-dimensional images?) call for the corona that, my saucy friends tell me, surrounds many a ripe nipple. Only brolly fetishists would connect ombrioles with umbrellas! Note, en passant, that “nipple,” like the Latin “aureolus” (from “aureus” = [golden] crown) is also a diminutive! These diminutives have less to do with size, one hopes, than as terms of endearment ;=)
JM: The word related to DJ's information is Lithophanes ( Porcelain impressed with figures which are made distinct by transmitted light, as in a lamp shade or when hung in a window. -- Lith`o*phan"ic, a. -- Li*thoph"a*ny, n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] ) Actually there is a discussion related to them, VN's "Lolithophany" and even ombrioles (May, 2008) posted after D.Johnson's news about the Blair Museum of Lithophanes [...] "When the ambient light is extinguished and the lithophane is back-lit, a beautiful, three-dimensional picture appears in incredible depth and detail. When you see the actual lithophane at the Blair Museum, you will see some additional lithophane magic which cannot be seen in a two dimensional photograph. Due to the three dimensionality of lithophanes, the perspective will change as you walk past the lithophane. The avenue behind the fountain actually appears to move."

*** - from The History of Pigment in Art) ... Ochre: Often used for glazes, ochre can either be opaque or transparent. Used throughout history and today. Made from naturally tinted clay. This is perhaps one of the most commonly found pigments families in the history of color, and are still used today (Brown Ochre;Yellow Ochre: (limonite); Red Ochre: (haemetite); Madder Red: This pigment made its artistic debut in the early 1800s with a synthetic version created nearly 100 years later. However, Madder Red, also known as Alizarin, has been around since 1500 B.C.; Azurite: This beautiful blue pigment was used from 2500 B. C. and was commonly known as Egyptian blue. It was used from the Renaissance through the 1700s. Orpiment: This yellow pigment, sulfide of arsenic, was only used from 3000 B.C. to the early 1900s because of its toxicity. Ultramarine: First used in 600 A.D., ultramarine was a highly sought after blue pigment, but also one of the most expensive. This pigment, created from the precious lapis lazuli stone, was coveted during the Renaissance era for its use in religious paintings. A synthetic version was created in the 1800s and became more widely used in art after that. Vermilion: Another very expensive pigment, the lovely red vermilion is created from the ground mineral cinnabar. First used around 500 A.D., vermilion is rarely used today because it is considered to be toxic....[snip]

.Art Experts, Inc.: Analyzing pigments in paintings www.artexpertswebsite.com › Scientific Tests

**** To Dye Madder Red: Take 3 lb of Allom, two Pound and half of white Tartar, a quarter of a pound of Fenugreek, two quarts of Wheat bran, boil all in the copper, then put in the stuff and let it boil 2 hours and half, after which take it out, cool it very well and hang it out for one Night; then to dye it, take 7 pound of Madder, an ounce and a half of Aqua Fortis, a Pint of Wheat Bran, put them into the copper, stir them very well about, and when the stuff have been very well rinced in the dye, then wind it very swift upon a Roller and tumble it about the Copper for an Hour at least, taking care that the Fire keep it boiling hot; after which take it out and rince it."The Whole Art of Dyeing." Original French publication of 1669, translated and published in London 1705.

footguards.tripod.com/ - - See offsite link

#- Wiki informs that: "For most of history, light was the only known part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The ancient Greeks ...studied some of the properties of it, including reflection and refraction...[D]uring the 16th and 17th centuries there were conflicting theories which regarded light as either a wave or a particle. It was first linked to electromagnetism in 1845 when Michael Faraday noticed that light responded to a magnetic field. The first discovery of electromagnetic waves other than light came in 1800, when William Herschel discovered infrared light... He theorized that there was 'light' that you could not see. The next year, Johann Ritter worked at the other end of spectrum and noticed that there were 'chemical rays' that behaved similar to, but were beyond, visible violet light rays. They were later renamed ultraviolet radiation. During the 1860s James Maxwell was studying electromagnetic field and realized that they traveled at around the speed of light...Attempting to prove Maxwell's equations, in 1886 Heinrich Hertz built an apparatus to generate and detect radio waves. He was able to observe that they traveled at the speed of light and could be both reflected and refracted... In 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a new type of radiation emitted during an experiment. He called these x-rays and found they were able to travel through parts of the human body but were reflected by denser matter such as bones...The last portion of the electromagnetic spectrum was filled in with the discovery of gamma rays. In 1900 Paul Villard was studying radioactivity. He first thought they were particles similar to alpha and beta particles. However, in 1910 Ernest Rutherford measured their wave lengths and found that they were electromagnetic waves."

## Related to the Aura as, from Wikipedia, "In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (like the halo or aureola in religious art). The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. Sometimes, however, it is said that all living things (including humans) and all objects manifest such an aura. Often it is held to be perceptible, whether spontaneously or with practice: such perception is at times linked with the third eye of Indian spirituality...Skeptics such as Robert Todd Carroll contend that auras may be seen for reasons such as migraines, synesthesia, epilepsy, a disorder within the visual system, a disorder within the brain, or due to the influence of psychedelic drugs such as LSD.[8][9] Eye fatigue can also produce an aura, sometimes referred to as eye burn.

Perhaps it's worth contrasting the paranormal conception of "Aura" to Walter Benjamin's: Cf. Wiki's "Influenced by the Swiss anthropologist Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815–87), Benjamin coined the term “auratic perception”, denoting the aesthetic faculty by means of which civilization may recover an appreciation of myth." (and Benjamin's "aura" in relation to political action, translation and the reproducibility of the works of art)