It seemed a simple enough idea. One hundred and twenty
artists each separately painting one section of Leonardo
Da Vinci's famous Mona Lisa. Then all the various parts
are brought together during a live television programme
to create a massive replica of the legendary portrait.
But events on the Mound, where Rolf Harris was trying
to pull off the feat yesterday for his television show
Rolf on Art, were far from straightforward.
Over the course of the day, howling winds, occasional
rain showers and even a delayed plane flight all threatened
to scupper the recreation and leave Rolf's Mona Lisa vision
in tatters...only for the veteran entertainer to emerge
triumphant at 8.30pm to hail the "amazing achievement".
Ten of the canvasses were flown in from Tuscany, where
a team of artists had been painting in the Renaissance
master's home country, while the rest of the artwork were
completed alfresco on the city's streets and at the Castle.
But, at midday, most of the artists - who included famous
faces such as actress Jane Seymour and TV presenters Lorraine
Kelly and Timmy Mallet - had taken refuge in marquees on
the Mound because of the unpredictable weather.
Scores of UK painters and sketchers from all walks of
life huddled for shelter in the tents - often breaking
away from their brush strokes to prevent a sudden gust
of wind from blowing over their artwork.
At first, only a handful of curious onlookers appeared
to see what was taking place and were rewarded with the
first glimpse of Rolf tackling the portrait's famous smile.
But as word of the event spread and the skies began to
clear, the crowd swelled into hundreds.
With the huge number of digital cameras and mobile phones
taking snaps of the artists' progress, an outsider would
have thought that a convention of Hollywood A-list stars
was taking place in the city centre.
And for many bemused tourists and festival-goers from
overseas, it was difficult to understand what all the crowds
had gathered for.
"Making the Mona Lisa sounds really interesting and
I'd like to see it," admitted 31-year-old Sylvia Besse,
from Switzerland when she was told about the show. "But
I don't really know who this old man is that everyone is
taking pictures of. Is he really famous?"
Others were equally baffled when the 75-year-old TV personality
addressed the crowd and performed an impromptu rendition
of Flower of Scotland to rapturous applause.
But for the hundreds, and later thousands, of those who
were in the know, it was a chance to see a national institution
perform something extraordinary.
"It's amazing to think that he's still doing this," said
21-year-old student Tim Owens, from Marchmont. "I
was just passing and had no idea that this was taking place,
but I'm probably going to be staying for the whole afternoon
now. It's a chance to see Rolf in person doing what he
does best.
"I've never seen anything like this before. A lot
of people are just stopping to watch him and all the other
artists here painting, and they're all asking what's going
on. When they get told that it's a big recreation of the
Mona Lisa, everyone just goes 'wow!' and stays. When they
do the live show later on, it's going to be packed."
However, elsewhere the scenes were less chaotic. At the
Castle, a group of local artists led by novice painter
Lorraine Kelly were at work in the Argyle Tower, having
also taken shelter from the rain.
"I think we were meant to be painting outside originally," Lorraine
explained as she took a break from her canvas. "But
we had to take cover and now we're a bit cut off. There
aren't any people coming to see us, unlike down by the
galleries.
"But despite the bad weather, I still think that
the whole thing is going to be fantastic. It's something
that is getting people interested and passionate about
art, and it's so nice to see so many different styles and
abilities on display."
Among the artists joining her
at the castle was 41-year-old Colin Chisholm, from Penicuik.
A guide at the Castle, he is also a keen painter who
jumped at the chance to be part of the show.
"I usually go up into the Pentlands and paint landscapes
there," he said, studying a blown-up poster of the
section he was meant to be painting. "But this was
an opportunity that I was really interested in - especially
as I don't tend to paint anything like this normally.
"I'm doing canvas number 71, which is part of her
sleeve so it's quite dark and quite difficult to paint.
It's a bit of a race against time at the moment, and we're
all trying to finish our parts as soon as possible."
Despite the challenge of painting against the clock, by
the time the live show had started, all of the canvasses
had been completed. In a dramatic - and relatively dry
- show-stopping moment, the Castle paintings were paraded
down the Mound to the sounds of accompanying bagpipes and
added to the other hundred or so already in the giant frame.
By now, thousands had gathered and were cheering as the
new masterpiece was taking shape.
But there was still a major obstacle to overcome. The
ten paintings being flown into the Capital from Italy for
the show were stuck in Paris after missing a connecting
flight - leaving the organisers to rely on using e-mailed
copies which would be flown by helicopter to Calton Hill
before being rushed to the Mound.
With time running out fast, it seemed that the ambitious
vision would be left incomplete, until a police escort
screeched into view with the missing pieces in tow.
And after one last race against time, millions of viewers
were able to see the final parts assembled and the impressive
nine-metre high painting unveiled.
For the artists and audience who took part, it was an
exciting end to a manic day, but as the cameras and lighting
rigs were being packed up, Rolf admitted it was all in
a day's work for him - and is doing another next month
in Trafalgar Square.
However, he'll probably be hoping that his next endeavour
won't come quite as close to the wire as his Capital challenge
did.
