Mona Lisa, Men Have Named You...
Written: Oct 08 '99 (Updated Oct 11 '99)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Some of the finest art in the world
Cons: Sheer size is daunting, folks waving cameras
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| ginadc's Full Review: Musée du Louvre |
I arrived at the Musee du Louvre prepared to be underwhelmed. I'd read cynical travelers' reports of the crowds, the lines, and the impossible size of the place. But I also arrived with something else: a plan. First, we'd bought the Cartee De Musees et Monuments, a bargain indeed. Available at any of the tourist attractions it admits you to, the card gets you into just about everything in Paris (except the Eiffel Tower), but more important, puts you at the FRONT of the line. (Read more about the card at http://www.intermusees.com.) We'd already seen the benefits of this at the Orsay and the Notre Dame towers, and we were about to learn what it really meant at the Louvre. The line stretched from the pyramid around the side of the building. We trotted over to the Richelieu wing (if you're facing the pyramid, the Richelieu entrance is to your left, under the archway), showed our cards, and were immediately waved in. No waiting.
I rented the English-language audio tour, and had in mind exactly what I wanted to see: Italian and French painting, Greek sculpture, and a few choice pieces of lowlands (Netherlands and Flemish) painting. Important tip: my companion and I split up and met in the central courtyard a few hours later. If you don't share the same artistic interests, don't waste your time dragging each other around--someone's favorite things will be missed. There's just not enough time.
The audio tour was valuable, but keep in mind that unless the number on the painting is underlined, the English version's not available. So for works like Da Vinci's Virgin, Christ and St. Anne, you may find yourself standing there entering numbers and getting frustrated when nothing is broadcast.
The most important lesson I learned here: don't worry about taking pictures! If you really want a photo of one of the Louvre's most famous works, buy a postcard. Your photo will never compare; do you *really* need a picture of you next to the Venus de Milo to prove you were there? I did take a couple of Venus photos (my panorama lens did a nice job), but after that, the only picture I took in the Louvre was one of the crowds in *front* of Mona, for humor effect.
Instead of seeing the art through a camera lens, stop and see it through your own eyes. There were mobs around Venus, but 99.9% of them were right in front, waiting to be photographed with the statue. I didn't care about that...and Venus is beautiful from all angles, so I wandered around in a close circle, just drinking in this incredible piece of ancient stone. If I'd been glued to my camera lens, I wouldn't remember how it felt to stand there, head thrown back, letting the brilliance and beauty of the statue wash over me, utterly awestruck.
The same with Mona Lisa. Crowds huddled in front of the painting, waving cameras overhead and pressing buttons frantically. I didn't see too many people stop and look--they were too busy photographing and posing. Slowly I worked my way to the front of the group...and stopped dead.
I had expected to be cynical about Mona. I'd read that the painting was small, behind glass, overcrowded, what's the big deal? Well, none of the zillions of Mona postcards, Mona mousemats, mustachioed Monas, and other reproductions I'd seen had prepared me for this. The painting seemed to glow from within. The sfumato technique made the lady herself almost leap from the canvas by contrast, appearing to be almost leaning out her window to regard me with a mournful? amused? sly? expression. I learned from the audio guide that the subject of the painting had recently lost her young daughter, hence the thin black mourning veil barely visible below her hairline. Was she thinking about her little girl when Leonardo painted? Was that the reason for the famous smile--is it really wistful, or haunted?
Call me easily manipulated, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. I moved to the side of the painting--again, good views here, but no one wants to stand there because they want a full-front photo--and had time to regard Mona at my leisure. I understood, at last, why this painting was legendary, eternal. I felt that I had connected with the work, the artist and the subject in a way I couldn't have done had I been focused on my photos or video.
So, in sum, my tips for the Louvre are:
1. Buy a museum pass
2. Study the map, figure out what you want to see and make a plan (it's worth spending ten minutes of your visit sitting on a bench to do this if you haven't done it beforehand)
3. Forget about your camera!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ginadc
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Member: Gina Shaw
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 84 members
About Me:
Gina is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in travel and health writing.
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