See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre France

“We visited Paris at the end of last year and turned up at the Louvre thinking it wouldn’t be too busy in November. It wasn’t. We didn’t have to queue for tickets and went straight in to enjoy the sculpture galleries. Debating on whether to attempt to see the works of Da Vinci and other early painters, we decided to follow the signs… Suddenly we were being jostled by a crowd – up the stairs, through a long gallery and towards a big room where the Mona Lisa is kept down one end behind barriers. The barriers are set so far back that the only view we got is shown in the photo above. Was it even a real painting? I couldn’t get close enough to see it properly! Several people in the crowd were keen to record their visit by taking a “selfie” with the picture in the background. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and I suppose it’s good that some at least were getting what they wanted from the experience. I was disappointed. I can watch people taking selfies anywhere! I wish we hadn’t bothered.”

“Stepping away to the side of the gallery, I found a spot by a large painting opposite the Mona Lisa and simply watched the spectacle. I saw hundreds of people all craning for the same tiny painting, cameras aloft, everyone desperate for their turn. It looked almost comical from this perspective – a melee of outstretched arms and eager faces all oriented toward that iconic image. In the middle of it all, the Mona Lisa sat serenely behind glass, gazing back at us with her eternal patience. [...] No one tells you that you might spend more time looking at the backs of heads and screens than at the painting itself. No one warns you that the atmosphere might be less like a hushed church and more like a busy marketplace, complete with shoving and sweating. And yet, no one really tells you how strangely thrilling it can be, too, to be part of this global ritual.”

“Walking towards the museum’s Salle des États, where The Mona Lisa can be viewed is like a pilgrimage. There are so many people clearly following the directions along the corridors to the masterpiece’s resting place. I am glad we can take pictures and videos but a little disappointed that the real The Mona Lisa isn’t as big as I had anticipated she would be. The art piece, older than 500 years, is displayed inside a thick bulletproof glass is quite small, maybe just a little bigger than an A4 Size.”