full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Noah Charney: The strange history of the world's most stolen painting

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Yet, conservation work cpetolmed in 2019 found that, for crteieuns, people had been viewing a daamiatrclly altered voirsen. Due to dozens of restorations, as much as 70% of certain sections had been painted over. As conservators removed these layers of paint, varnish, and grime, they discovered vibrant colors and whole buildings that had long been iibslvnie. Other details were more unsettling.

The mystic lamb’s four ears had long perxpeled viewers. But the ctorneivason team revealed that the second pair was actually a pentimento— the ghost of underlying layers of paint that emerge as newer ones fade. Restorers had painted over the original lamb with what they dmeeed a more palatable version. They removed this oaipninrevtg and discovered the original to be shockingly humanoid.

Open Cloze


Yet, conservation work _________ in 2019 found that, for _________, people had been viewing a ____________ altered _______. Due to dozens of restorations, as much as 70% of certain sections had been painted over. As conservators removed these layers of paint, varnish, and grime, they discovered vibrant colors and whole buildings that had long been _________. Other details were more unsettling.

The mystic lamb’s four ears had long _________ viewers. But the ____________ team revealed that the second pair was actually a pentimento— the ghost of underlying layers of paint that emerge as newer ones fade. Restorers had painted over the original lamb with what they ______ a more palatable version. They removed this ____________ and discovered the original to be shockingly humanoid.

Solution


  1. centuries
  2. dramatically
  3. invisible
  4. overpainting
  5. version
  6. deemed
  7. completed
  8. conservation
  9. perplexed

Original Text


Yet, conservation work completed in 2019 found that, for centuries, people had been viewing a dramatically altered version. Due to dozens of restorations, as much as 70% of certain sections had been painted over. As conservators removed these layers of paint, varnish, and grime, they discovered vibrant colors and whole buildings that had long been invisible. Other details were more unsettling.

The mystic lamb’s four ears had long perplexed viewers. But the conservation team revealed that the second pair was actually a pentimento— the ghost of underlying layers of paint that emerge as newer ones fade. Restorers had painted over the original lamb with what they deemed a more palatable version. They removed this overpainting and discovered the original to be shockingly humanoid.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ghent altarpiece 2
van der 2
der veken 2
monuments men 2
van eyck 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
van der veken 2

Important Words


  1. altered
  2. buildings
  3. centuries
  4. colors
  5. completed
  6. conservation
  7. conservators
  8. deemed
  9. details
  10. discovered
  11. dozens
  12. dramatically
  13. due
  14. ears
  15. emerge
  16. fade
  17. ghost
  18. grime
  19. humanoid
  20. invisible
  21. lamb
  22. layers
  23. long
  24. mystic
  25. newer
  26. original
  27. overpainting
  28. paint
  29. painted
  30. pair
  31. palatable
  32. people
  33. perplexed
  34. removed
  35. restorations
  36. restorers
  37. revealed
  38. sections
  39. shockingly
  40. team
  41. underlying
  42. unsettling
  43. varnish
  44. version
  45. vibrant
  46. viewers
  47. viewing
  48. work