PAINTING SPLAININ

AMSTERDAM [AP] -- The Van Gogh Museum said its experts now believe one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings previously thought to be a self-portrait from 1887 actually depicts his brother, Theo.

Though the brothers resembled each other physically, scholars determined the painting represents Theo by a number of factors.

Head researcher Louis van Tilborgh compared two paintings from 1887 with similar-looking men in suits set against a blue background.

The portrait of Theo [seen on the left] shows he had rounder ears than Vincent. The other portrait shows Vincent with long, angular ears, consistent with other artists’ paintings of Vincent. That’s before he famously self-mutilated one of his ears in December 1888.

In addition, Theo’s goatee is more yellow-brown than Vincent’s dark red beard, and Theo has shaven cheeks, consistent with photographs of him from the same period, while Vincent painted himself sporting mutton-chop sideburns.

In Toobworld, however, Van Gogh presented the painting as a portrait of himself to the Doctor and Amy. There was no mention of Theo.

There are two ways this can be splained away.......

ONE - It is not Theo.

Toobworld is NOT the real world. There are so many differences - aliens, androids, and talking animals living among us; the moon has been secretly colonized for decades; countries that don't exist in the Trueniverse crowd the map; historical figures took part in adventures which never even happened here.

So maybe over in Toobworld Van Gogh always intended the painting to be of himself. And if the televersions of those art critics still tried to make the assertion that it was Theo Van Gogh, they'd just be wrong.

TWO - It is Theo.

Van Gogh was testing the Doctor and Amy; if they were such big fans of his work as they appeared, they would surely recognize it was not a self-portrait. But even though they didn't, Van Gogh seems to have let the matter drop.

Either way, both sides of the issue are covered.

BCnU!