but due to his experimental fresco technique, it started to flake away almost as soon as leonardo da vinci mouth on, restoration has attempted to save one of the world's masterpieces from disappearing completely. by stripping away centuries of botched restoration attempts, lines which were crude and inexpressive are now delicate and refined. the mural is by no means perfect, and some critics feel too much paint has been removed. pinin brambilla, speaking at her studio in milan. that's all for witness for this month and this year. we will be back in 2017 with more stories from history, told by the people who were there. from me and the rest of the witness team, goodbye. hello, the last day of 2016 and it's looking cloudy and damp for the majority of the country with limited spells of brightness. some with limited spells of brightness. sunshine across 1 pennines. some sunshine across the east of the pennines. across scotland and northern ireland we are seeing a change. rain spreading southwards with some much colder air digging in behind bringing some wintry showers. you can see on the rain

woman astronaut who trained with the challenger space or crude an art restorer who brought a leonardo da vincice back to life. but first, witness has travelled to the bamyan valley in afghanistan. for over 1,000 years to huge statues of border towered over the valley at in 2001 they were destroyed by the taliban. mr hussein was one of the local people forced to lay dynamite around the statues. this year is the 50th anniversary of the start of the cultural revolution in china. at the forefront were red kites, fanatical students trying to help eliminate vestiges of capitalism. our next witness saul yeung was one of them. in 1966i was in middle school when the cultural revolution started. the biggest nation on earth, china, is in turmoil. is china's ageing leader losing control? has mao gone mad, driven by the megalomania of the teenage red guards? mao had decided to drive the young people in a vast campaign to purify the communist party. there was to be a new revolution, a cultural revolution, a revolution in people's thinking. inspired by mao, the red guards went wild in their enthusiasm to kee

woman astronaut who trained with the challenger space or crude an art restorer who brought a leonardo da vinci masterpiece back to life. but first, witness has

it includes a portrait by leonardo da vinci. ermine, painted in1a90. leonardo da vinci's lady with an ermine, painted in 1a90. it's one of only four portraits of women by the italian master and it alone is insured for 331 million euros. it's one of the pieces in this foundation ‘s collection. the treasure trove consists of around 86,000 objects, and also includes every amount —— rembrandt. it has been hosted in the museum in krakow, currently being refurbished. now the polish government has amended their budget to raise 1oo million euros to buy it although it is thought to be worth 2 billion. the president of the foundation said that he felt like making a donation. it seems the government has got a good deal... translation: this collection, in the polish hearts, is now the property of the polish nation. the entire foundation's collection, housed in krakow, and future art claims belong to the polish nation. but, the sale, at a fraction of its worth, has not gone down so well with the foundation's board. it has resigned over the b

it includes leonardo da vinci's lady with an ermine. sale was not without controversy. leonardo da vinci's lady with an ermine painted in 1490, is one of only four portraits of women by the italian master. it is one of the pieces in the czartoryski foundation's collection. the treasure trove consists of around 86,000 objects and also includes a rembrandt. it has been housed in the foundation's museum in krakow which is being refurbished. now the polish government has amended its budget to raise 100 million euros to buy it although it is thought to be worth 2 billion. the foundation's president adam czartoryski said he felt like making a donation. it seems the government has got a good deal. translation: this collection which was in polish hearts is now the property of the polish nation. the entire czartoryski foundation's collection which is housed in krakow and any future works of art claims now belong to the polish nation. but the sale at a fraction of its worth has not gone down so well with the foundation's board. it has resigned ov

huge private art collection for a fraction of its value of $2 billion including a portrait by leonardo da vinciion including a portrait by leonardo da vinci but of only four mac portraits of women by the italian master. it alone is insured for 331 million euros. it is one of the pieces in the charter risky foundation collection, the treasure trove consists of around 86 objects, and also includes a rembrandt. it has been housed in the foundation museum in crack of, which is currently being refurbished. now, the polish government has amended its budget to raise 1oo the polish government has amended its budget to raise 100 million euros to buy it, although it is thought to be worth 2 billion euros. the foundation president, adam charter risky, said he felt like making a donation. it seems that the government has got a good deal. this collection, which was in polish hearts, is now the property of the polish nation. the foundation collection, which is housed in crack of, and any future works of art claims, now belong to the polish nation. but the sale, at a fraction of its worth, has not gone down s

game allowing gamers to back in time and team up with historical figures, like julius caesar, leonardo da vincicue humanity. it has been at the top of the japanese revenue rankings all year. for more, yuji joins us live from tokyo. the big draw of pokemon go was this augmented reality. this is something that fate/grand order does not have. what is the draw? what is causing this engagement? yuji: you are right. there is no a.r. the real drawl of the game is its story. similar to pokemon go, fate is an anime series in japan. it originally began as a game for pc's, and evolved. sony has a lot of little tentacles everywhere, including an enemanime studio. from developed this game this popular anime series in japan. three years ago, they decided they would make a game based on the anime series again. theill be for smartphones. it is a long trip to get to the smartphones, but the fans love it here. players travel through time. they get to meet a lot of very colorful characters. julius caesar, cleopatra -- you go back to the egyptian days. even people like jack the ripper, billy the kid. there are man

. >> cut to next scene and i was like really -- i remember passing out in a leonardo da vinci exhibition me and a friend slept on trains. >> jimmy: you've had a terrible life. >> it's been really hard. >> jimmy: do you ever look back on those days and long for them? >> no. >> jimmy: no? [ laughter ] twr do you live now? >> i live here. >> jimmy: do you like it here in l.a.? >> yeah. >> jimmy: you do? >> yeah. [ applause ] >> jimmy: because a lot of people don't like l.a., but i find that almost everyone who comes here from england loves l.a. >> yeah, i kinda hate when people are like, why do you live in l.a.? i really have such a love for california, and there are so many brilliant artists that have come from this place. it's an inspiring place. >> jimmy: california's the best state, there's no two ways about it. and i'll fight anyone who says it isn't. [ cheers and applause ] it is. and we have the best flag here. do you know the california flag? >> yes. >> jimmy: it's a bear. >> i thought that was a mountain lion. >> jimmy: no, it's not a mountain lion. chblt that was a joke. >> jimmy:

the game allowing gamers to back in time and team up with historical figures like your narda da vinci -- leonardoas been at the top of the rankings on year. for more, eugene joins us live from tokyo. the big draw of pokemon go was this augmented reality. this is something that fate/grand order does not have. what is causing this engagement? eugene: you are right. there is no ar. the real drawl of the game is its story. e islar to pokemon go, fat is n japan.ime series in it has evolved. sony has a lot of tentacles everywhere. thisnime studio created game, then three years ago, sony decided it will actually make a game based on the anime again. it will be for smartphones. it's a long trip to get to the smartphones, but fans love it here. players travel through time. they get to meet a lot of very colorful characters. -- youcaesar, cleopatra go back to the egyptian days. people like billy the kid. a lot of colorful characters and i think that is really the draw of the game. players want to see what happens next. they want to meet more characters. that is basically what the game is about. meeting col

no one knew including the son that in that collection was a drawing by none other than leonardo da vinci. martyred st. sebastian with a if you scientific sketches on the back side of it. the drawing authenticated by the metropolitan museum of art valued at nearly $16 million. the doctor says, no, no, no, not for sale. that was my french accent. no, no, no. he's keeping it. nope, nope, i'm good with the french. it's a french doctor and he said, you know what, it's not always about money. that was his father's. it was in his collection. he had no idea and he's keeping itn >> priceless. >> you know what, those treasures are everywhere so keep your eyes open. >>> then finally in "pop news" this morning, some luxury refrigerators come with ice makers or water dispensers. one woman in england is my hero this morning. she came up with a way to tap into its total potential filling it with her favorite wine. [ applause ] of the morning? >> people. >> did you see the woman with the red sweater back there? two thumbs up. >> i wanted to say, this is a kid-free house. she does admit she will only use