Transcript 11/13/09- Ralph Cambeis (ToT #6)

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Ralph Cambeis
Brooklyn, NY
Retired Bus driver

Ralph is VERY Brooklyn.

Meredith reminds everyone that Ralph said he didn’t know half of the questions he answered, but that he was a good guesser. He says he did know the $100,000 question he passed on, however. Meredith asks if he’ll take a gamble now, and Ralph responds that this time, he’ll actually “read the question”, and “all of the answers, not just the first two”, and if he knows, he knows. Meredith mentions Sam, and Ralph says “Yeah, Sam’s a good guy. It’s a shame what happened to him, he got knocked out”.

Ralph will have 4:02 to answer.

$1 million- Though today it is treated like a treasure, what famous painting was once cut into to enlarge a doorway?

A- Detroit Industry B- The Last Supper
C- Guernica D- The Birth of Venus

Ralph has heard of The Last Supper, of course, but it appears not the other ones. He seems to recall something being done to the Last Supper. But, he says “Eh…ya got me…I have some time to kill. I really don’t need it because I have no idea.”

Ralph ponders some more…mentioning again he thinks something was done to The Last Supper, but decides to “call it quits” and walk with his “50 grand”.

Spoiler

B- The Last Supper

[ten96lt]

I woulda had it right also but for the same reason as him, it would have been an educated guess since it seems like the only painting it would happen to and did hear something about it, but I wouldn't have been able to go for it either. Can't blame him for walking.

[Weyoun]

Can't help but think that he'll regret that.

[doitneatly]

$1 million- Though today it is treated like a treasure, what famous painting was once cut into to enlarge a doorway?

A- Detroit Industry B- The Last Supper
C- Guernica D- The Birth of Venus

Ralph has heard of The Last Supper, of course, but it appears not the other ones. He seems to recall something being done to the Last Supper. But, he says “Eh…ya got me…I have some time to kill. I really don’t need it because I have no idea.”

Ralph ponders some more…mentioning again he thinks something was done to The Last Supper, but decides to “call it quits” and walk with his “50 grand”.

Spoiler

B- The Last Supper

I'm no art history buff, but this one (unlike any of the other ToT questions so far) was one that I knew cold.
So cold, I had one of those "how could they ask such a ridiculously simple question?" moments.

Of course, they're always easy when you know them... How many others saw this one as an overvalued gimme?

[Southpaw Fanny]

At the risk of sounding like all the KIAs.....

THIS was a million dollar question?? Seriously? When I read the transcripts I don't usually pay attention to the dollar amounts, I just read the conversations and such. So, after reading this, I looked up to see the dollar amount, thinking it was maybe 12,500. But $1,000,000??

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

I must quibble with the question writers, though. I don't think it was to enlarge a doorway, but to actually create a doorway. It's in the dining room of the convent and they wanted a pass through to the chapel or something. I will now go upstairs and check out my 1973 World Book Encyclopedia, since that is where I originally learned this, back when I was in grade school.....

[Phil Ken Sebbin]

I did not know this cold but strongly suspected "The Last Supper."

What is a KIA?

[Bob Juch]

$1 million- Though today it is treated like a treasure, what famous painting was once cut into to enlarge a doorway?

A- Detroit Industry B- The Last Supper
C- Guernica D- The Birth of Venus

Ralph has heard of The Last Supper, of course, but it appears not the other ones. He seems to recall something being done to the Last Supper. But, he says “Eh…ya got me…I have some time to kill. I really don’t need it because I have no idea.”

Ralph ponders some more…mentioning again he thinks something was done to The Last Supper, but decides to “call it quits” and walk with his “50 grand”.

Spoiler

B- The Last Supper

I'm no art history buff, but this one (unlike any of the other ToT questions so far) was one that I knew cold.
So cold, I had one of those "how could they ask such a ridiculously simple question?" moments.

Of course, they're always easy when you know them... How many others saw this one as an overvalued gimme?

Me

[Southpaw Fanny]

I did not know this cold but strongly suspected "The Last Supper."

What is a KIA?

A Know It All aka a Nihil Obstatter.....

[earendel]

Ralph Cambeis
Brooklyn, NY
Retired Bus driver

Ralph is VERY Brooklyn.

Meredith reminds everyone that Ralph said he didn’t know half of the questions he answered, but that he was a good guesser. He says he did know the $100,000 question he passed on, however. Meredith asks if he’ll take a gamble now, and Ralph responds that this time, he’ll actually “read the question”, and “all of the answers, not just the first two”, and if he knows, he knows. Meredith mentions Sam, and Ralph says “Yeah, Sam’s a good guy. It’s a shame what happened to him, he got knocked out”.

Ralph will have 4:02 to answer.

$1 million- Though today it is treated like a treasure, what famous painting was once cut into to enlarge a doorway?

A- Detroit Industry B- The Last Supper
C- Guernica D- The Birth of Venus

Ralph has heard of The Last Supper, of course, but it appears not the other ones. He seems to recall something being done to the Last Supper. But, he says “Eh…ya got me…I have some time to kill. I really don’t need it because I have no idea.”

Ralph ponders some more…mentioning again he thinks something was done to The Last Supper, but decides to “call it quits” and walk with his “50 grand”.

Spoiler

B- The Last Supper

Oh, my, this would have been my dream question. No hesitation, no dithering, but straight to "B, final answer!" and wait for the confetti to drop (had this not been a ToT question).

[Jeemie]

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

Fanny, to be fair, I don't necessarily think that arch-like structure at the bottom of the table registers as a doorway to people that don't realize a doorway was cut into the painting.

I thought this was insanely easy, albeit for a different reason. I thought the distractors were incredibly weak for a question of this level.

[ghostjmf]

1 Mill Q: Another one I knew. So far, that makes 2 from this series.

The question is, did I know it with the same amount of conviction that I knew the previous one I knew? No, but I would like to think I could have convinced myself I knew it, had I been in the chair. So, here I am, liking to think.

[Estonut]

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

I see "The Last Supper" recreated at the Pageant of the Masters every year, but until this question came up, I never realized that was the top of a doorway. I've noticed that thing, to be sure, but thought it was some side table or some type of support for the main table. I don't recall ever seeing a picture of the whole wall (including the part below the painting), so I never saw that feature in its proper context.

[silvercamaro]

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

I see "The Last Supper" recreated at the Pageant of the Masters every year, but until this question came up, I never realized that was the top of a doorway. I've noticed that thing, to be sure, but thought it was some side table or some type of support for the main table. I don't recall ever seeing a picture of the whole wall (including the part below the painting), so I never saw that feature in its proper context.

Here's the best HD reproduction of the painting on the internet, cracks and all:

http://www.haltadefinizione.com/magnifier.jsp?idopera=1

You can zoom in, zoom out, and move the painting around. Although the entire wall is not visible, you can move the painting up far enough to see more of the door and a sliver of unpainted wall beneath the masterpiece.

[MarleysGh0st]

Aside from remembering that door in The Last Supper, I was fairly sure that Guernica and The Birth of Venus were painted on canvas. So, if someone decided they needed a new doorway, they could always just move the paintings to a different wall. I wasn't familiar with Detroit Industry. That turns out to be a mural covering a number of panels at the Ford Motor Company. But I knew that had to be recent painting; surely, they would have thought about where the doors should go before it was painted.

[tanstaafl2]

I knew about the door but have not seen it in person and as you note pictures rarely seem to show the entire wall. Didn't make it to Milan on my one trip to Italy in 2001. It remains one of the (many) things on my "to do" list.

Odd because it looks like the door (which has since been sealed, as has the entire room to try to better preserve the painting) did not need to be that high in the first place. Not like people were generally tall in the 17th century when the door was added! But I suppose the angle could be deceptive.

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

I see "The Last Supper" recreated at the Pageant of the Masters every year, but until this question came up, I never realized that was the top of a doorway. I've noticed that thing, to be sure, but thought it was some side table or some type of support for the main table. I don't recall ever seeing a picture of the whole wall (including the part below the painting), so I never saw that feature in its proper context.

[silvercamaro]

Tan, you have the best "magic camera". Anything for which we're ever likely to need a photograph already has been captured through your lens.

[Southpaw Fanny]

Anybody who has ever seen a picture of the Last Supper has seen the doorway cut into the bottom of the table (you can't help it, it's right there!) and, what with the whole da Vinci craze after the Dan Brown book, the image has been everywhere.

Fanny, to be fair, I don't necessarily think that arch-like structure at the bottom of the table registers as a doorway to people that don't realize a doorway was cut into the painting.

I thought this was insanely easy, albeit for a different reason. I thought the distractors were incredibly weak for a question of this level.

I didn't say that everybody should know the answer, my point was more that a million dollar question shouldn't be something so obvious.

And the distractors just make it worse! Could they not have put at least ONE other choice that was actually painted directly on a wall? At least put in The Last Judgment or School of Athens or something! God knows there's no shortage of wall murals and frescoes in Italy....

[Southpaw Fanny]

I knew about the door but have not seen it in person and as you note pictures rarely seem to show the entire wall. Didn't make it to Milan on my one trip to Italy in 2001. It remains one of the (many) things on my "to do" list.

Odd because it looks like the door (which has since been sealed, as has the entire room to try to better preserve the painting) did not need to be that high in the first place. Not like people were generally tall in the 17th century when the door was added! But I suppose the angle could be deceptive.

If I'm remembering correctly and it went through to a chapel, they might have needed the height to tote in statues and big tall crosses and such. We Catholics just can't throw a proper mass without accessories....

[Estonut]

Odd because it looks like the door (which has since been sealed, as has the entire room to try to better preserve the painting) did not need to be that high in the first place. Not like people were generally tall in the 17th century when the door was added! But I suppose the angle could be deceptive.

That is a great photo. Never having seen it in person, I would have had to have seen a photo like this one to recognize it as a door. You mentioned it being sealed. The coloring of/paint on the plaster helps hide the fact that it was a doorway, especially when you only see the top foot or two of it. If the door were still there, with woodgrain or slats, it would be much more obvious in the usually-seen context.

[Southpaw Fanny]

Odd because it looks like the door (which has since been sealed, as has the entire room to try to better preserve the painting) did not need to be that high in the first place. Not like people were generally tall in the 17th century when the door was added! But I suppose the angle could be deceptive.

That is a great photo. Never having seen it in person, I would have had to have seen a photo like this one to recognize it as a door. You mentioned it being sealed. The coloring of/paint on the plaster helps hide the fact that it was a doorway, especially when you only see the top foot or two of it. If the door were still there, with woodgrain or slats, it would be much more obvious in the usually-seen context.

I don't remember there ever actually being a door, just a doorway. They have blended it in better since the restoration. Before that it was just an arch cut into it. Then again, it shouldn't really be called da Vinci's Last Supper. I doubt that any paint is left that was actually applied by him.

Here's a good picture that shows the perspective. It was meant to look like an extension of the dining hall:

[NellyLunatic1980]

Perfect week for me on MDQs. I took an educated guess on "The Last Supper" as well, with my second choice being "Guernica".

[moonie]

Seems like there've been a propensity of contestants who channel Rodney Dangerfield.

This guy was definitely one of them.