*** Be The First To Spot Leonardo's Portrait! ***

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now that the Beginnings DVDs have begun to be released, I'm reminded of this exchange from back in '03:

... wish I had Episode Number 2 on tape where Elizabeth identifies all the Collins ancestors in the drawing room. It's the one to the left of the fireplace - the guy in the big floppy hat. Who was this - Leonardo Collins? :-

... I looked up the scene in question ... and the only portrait Liz makes mention of in that scene is the one of Jeremiah, which hangs over the mantle (but I think we all knew that). The portrait of "Leonardo" isn't even anywhere to be seen in Episode #2.

In Episode #3, Carolyn explains to Vicki that the bearded gentleman whose portrait hangs over the piano is Issac Collins ... "Leo" is among the missing again.

In Episode #4, while lecturing Roger, Liz identifies Issac and Jeremiah again, as well as naming the man in the portrait between the cabinet and the fireplace as Theodore and the man in the portrait above the sideboard (where the phone is) as Benjamin. I'm afraid that "Leo" is still nowhere in evidence.

If Sci-Fi decides to run DS from the beginning again, I think a game we should play on the forum is Be The First To Spot Leonardo's Portrait.

Well, unfortunatly Sci-Fi decided not to run DS again, but the Beginnings DVDs are the next best thing. So we're officially launching the "Be The First To Spot Leonardo's Portrait" game, the only point of which is to spot the first appearance of "Leo's" portrait and then be the first to post the episode number.    And in case you're unaware of which portrait we're referring to (though if you are, you really have no right whatsoever to call yourself a DS fan!  ) here's a nice bright capture ("Leo" often lurks in the shadows  ) from Ep #701:

And no doubt you will have already realized that "Leo" is already hanging in the drawing room in the episodes that are being discussed as part of the Watching Project, so apparently "Leo" makes his debut at some point prior to Barnabas but after the first week of DS...

Happy spotting!! 

[Gothick]

Sandor sez "Ah!  what fine Wheeeesky!  Surely no one will notice one less bottle..."

What a cute contest, Mysterioso darling.  Only you could be "casually reminded" of a thread from four years ago...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Only you could be "casually reminded" of a thread from four years ago...

Well, to rework Little Red Riding Hood:

"My, MB, what a big memory for old posts you have!"

"All the better to quote them back whenever the need arises, my dear."

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Apparently, despite being nowhere in sight for at least part of 1966, Leo was already lurking in the shadows in 1949:

Combine that with the obvious fact that he was also there in 1897, and perhaps the game should be to spot Leo in every DS time period/band. 

[Jackie]

I just recently finished watching the entire 1897 storyline and I spotted Leo many times.  I don't remember him before going to this storyline but then I wasn't looking for the portrait or even knew of the portrait before just recently.

[Gothick]

MB darling, I *swoon* at that fabulous portrait of Liz '49!

I long to caption it:  "Elizabethan Collins Stoddard, LIVE, at Caesar's Palace, 1967!"

Perhaps Liz was about to begin a pensive rendition of "People, People who need People... "

struggling to keep a "straight" face,

Gothique

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Interesting that Leo is in the same spot in 1970PT - even though many of the other ancestors' portraits are hung in different spots:

Perhaps Leo has it in his contract that he has to be hung in the same spot no matter the time period or band? 

[Miss_Winthrop]

I belive this is a portrait of a woman you are speaking of.  Is the name perhaps Leandra Collins?  I will definitely review the initial episode.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've wondered if it isn't actually a portrait of a woman. I've been identifying the subject simply by the way forum member Dr. Eric Lang originally did so - plus the fact that every other portrait in that room is of a man, and only the men have ever been identified by name. (So apparently, if it is a woman, she would have to be an extremely significant woman in Collins history given that to be honored in the drawing room seems to be based on patriarchal distinctions - which would actually make speculating about her especially interesting).

[proudhug]

Wow, I can't believe no one's looked this up yet!  I just checked, and the portrait first appeared in episode 65.  The picture of Isaac first appeared in episode 3, on the left side of the drawing room window.  In episode 4, Isaac's portrait was moved to the RIGHT side of the window, where it stayed until it was replaced by Leonardo in episode 65.  I'm not sure what happened to the Isaac portrait.  Perhaps it was damaged.  You can see Leonardo's first appearance on Disc 4 of The Beginning Collection 2 at about 44:44 into the disc.

[Lydia]

This is fascinating.  Who moved the portraits?  Matthew Morgan?  The ghost of Josette Collins?  The portraits themselves?  I'm imagining a square dance among the portraits here...."Swing your portrait ‘round and ‘round, And turn your corner upside down!"  I'll bet Bill Malloy's ghost would make a great caller, if only he didn't slip up and slide into "What do you do with a drunken portrait?"

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wow, I can't believe no one's looked this up yet!  I just checked, and the portrait first appeared in episode 65.

Excellent observation, proudhug! "Leo" does indeed appear in Ep #65 when Burke insists on waiting for Roger in the drawing room:

And your keen eyesight has earned you the custom title of '!!! "Leo" Spotter !!!'.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Who moved the portraits?  Matthew Morgan?  The ghost of Josette Collins?  The portraits themselves?  I'm imagining a square dance among the portraits here...."Swing your portrait ‘round and ‘round, And turn your corner upside down!"

We've often theorized that there was a game of musical portraits going on in the drawing room whenever we weren't seeing the room. But I like the idea that the portraits themselves were square dancing then much better!!   

[proudhug]

It's unfortunate that the last scene of episode 64 doesn't have a shot of that wall, or there'd literally have to have been a ghost mover, since that scene runs directly into the scene with Burke at the start of 65.  As it stands, technically someone could've moved the paintings between the last two drawing room scenes in episode 64.

[Nelson Collins]

Squaredancing portraits now has me thinking that the pictures in Collinwood move like the portraits in Hogwarts...