Life — March 31, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Unfamiliar Anniversaries—No. 1: The Invention of the Wheelbarrow" This satirical cartoon by Tengren depicts Leonardo da Vinci inspecting his wheelbarrow invention 449 years prior (dating this article to 1492). The joke centers on **Mona Lisa's exhaustion**: the famous portrait appears framed on the wall behind da Vinci, while a woman in the foreground—presumably the Mona Lisa model—poses irritably surrounded by art supplies and debris. The satire mocks Leonardo's legendary perfectionism and the model's ordeal sitting for his famous painting. The text suggests her "arduous task of posing" was perhaps more burdensome than da Vinci's mechanical inventions. The wheelbarrow itself becomes ironic commentary: while Leonardo created this practical device, his artistic demands left his model literally worn out, suggesting some inventions matter less than others.