IPSWICH - Michael Domoretsky sees things.
He sees proof of the real identity of the most mysterious woman in history. He sees chalices where no art historian has ever seen them, and he sees hidden angels, cats and doves.
He sees all this and a lot more in paintings that have been scrutinized for 500 years, the works of Leonardo da Vinci, although Domoretsky says his real first name is Lionardo.
The Ipswich resident claims da Vinci was even more talented than he's been given credit for, and crafty to boot. There are images inside his images, he says. Renaissance versions of modern holograms that change as you tilt them.
Is he onto something? Or is this like the cloud viewed by two people? One sees a giraffe, plain as day, while the other sees nothing but a cloud.
Domoretsky is so sure he's right he intends to publish a book detailing what he calls his "findings" in da Vinci's works. He's also created a Web site, lionardofromvinci.com, on which he details some of his beliefs.
And he says the doubters can bring it on.
"I challenge any art historian to question me on it," he says. "I really want the world to see what it's missed for 500 years."
Domoretsky, who is single, has lived in Ipswich since 1989. The self-employed granite and marble countertop installer has taken time off from work in recent months to devote all his attention to his study of da Vinci's works.
He claims da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is no Mona at all, but either Mary Magdalene or the Virgin Mary, though he's not sure which.
Holding up a reproduction of the work, Domoretsky points his finger at the folds in the sleeve bunched above her right wrist.
"Can you see it?" he asks as he traces the letters M-A-R-Y.
Well, sure, sort of, but that's not really the point.
Did da Vinci intentionally encode her identity, or did her sleeve just happen to fall that way and da Vinci faithfully reproduced it?
Again, Domoretsky has no doubts and quotes the maestro's own words for confirmation.
"When he did his paintings, he'd say if it doesn't mean anything then it has no purpose," he says.
'Doesn't ring true'
Laura Olmstead Tonelli has been teaching art history at Montserrat College in Beverly for 20 years and did her graduate work on Renaissance artists. Although she hasn't seen any of Domoretsky's findings, they don't seem likely to her, especially the identity of da Vinci's most famous subject.
"That doesn't ring true to me," she says. "The 'Mona Lisa' is timeless; it could be anyone. Why would he identify her?"
Like many Renaissance painters, da Vinci did use symbolism in his works, Tonelli says, but they tended to be traditional Christian symbols such as a triangle to represent the Holy Trinity.
Domoretsky, 50, believes da Vinci used mirror imaging in his paintings, as well. Taking a reproduction of "Virgin and Child With St. Anne and the Infant St. John," he holds one edge of it up to a mirror.
Domoretsky traces the outline of a chalice created by the combined images, then points to an image of the Masonic symbols of the compass and square, saying it suggests da Vinci was a Mason, a question that has been debated for centuries.
Domoretsky will repeatedly tell you he's "not a nut," but even he admits he's become obsessed. His small apartment is stacked with books by and about da Vinci, and two computers are crammed with the painter's works. There's even an unopened pack of da Vinci drink coasters sitting on top of his printer.
He didn't always feel this way about da Vinci. About two years ago, he downloaded a movie trailer for "The Da Vinci Code," in which da Vinci's art appears repeatedly. What began for him as a mere inquiry into the mystery surrounding the identity of "Mona Lisa" developed into intense research.
He believes da Vinci was so far ahead of his time, art scholars have been unable to see what was right there in front of them, and he says he's going to change that. He says he's called nationally syndicated talk shows, museums and art schools, but as soon as he mentions the words da Vinci, he's dismissed as just another crackpot with a code.
There have been countless volumes published about the Italian master's life and works, but Domoretsky says his will be different.
"A lot of people writing about him just capitalize on him," he says. "They don't give him credit for his artistic skills."
If Domoretsky's claims have any validity, the most intriguing question is one he can't answer: Why did da Vinci go through all that trouble?
"He's the only one who can answer that," Domoretsky says, "and we can't ask him; he's dead."
http://www.salemnews.com/lifestyle/loca ... ory+page=4
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