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Object
Object

Deceptive Letter to Leonardo da Vinci

A hastily scrawled note on aged parchment, crinkled at the edges and sealed with a hasty blob of red wax bearing no mark, its ink still wet in spots where the Doctor’s quill pressed too hard. The script mimics Leonardo’s famous reverse writing, but with deliberate errors—a clumsy forgery masking its true purpose. Tancredi reads it aloud before realizing it commands Leonardo to paint over the original Mona Lisa panels with fakes destined for Scarlioni in Paris. The soldiers crowd around it, their faces showing the first flicker of confused obedience.
3 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments
S17E7 · City of Death Part 3
Tancredi reveals himself as a splintered Jagaroth

A torn and hastily sealed parchment displays the Doctor’s forged letter to Leonardo, commanding him to paint over the original panels with fakes bound for Scarlioni. Tancredi reads it aloud, exposing the deception before realizing its true purpose—turning a command into a chrono-decoy.

Before: Blank parchment torn from Leonardo’s drafts, wax blob uncured.
After: Crumpled evidence of misdirection, its ink still wet where the Doctor pressed too hard in haste.
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S17E7 · City of Death Part 3
Doctor trapped by Tancredi's suspicion

The forged letter to da Vinci is assembled in haste, written in the Doctor’s cramped reverse-script and smeared with hasty red sealing wax. Meant for Leonardo’s eyes only, its clumsy phrasing clumsily directs the painter to obscure the original panels under fakes destined for Scarlioni — a temporal misdirection to buy time.

Before: Blank parchment torn from Leonardo’s desk, awaiting the Doctor’s frantic script.
After: Crinkled and half-read by Tancredi, who crushes the ruse by arriving back early, exposing the deception before it can serve its purpose.
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S17E7 · City of Death Part 3
Doctor forges Mona Lisa panels to mislead enemy

The crumpled scrap of parchment receives the Doctor’s forged note in copperplate reverse script. Holding it briefly to a studio mirror, he checks the mirror-writing before leaving it on the desk. Leonardo da Vinci’s name lends spurious authority, while the Doctor’s mischievous sign-off plants the seed that will tempt Scarlioni into premature action.

Before: Blank aged parchment lying on the desk awaiting Leonardo’s possible note.
After: Aged further by crinkles, red-wax blob sealing it, ink still slightly wet where pressure was applied.
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