The Mona Lisa

Getting into the Louvre begins with an epic wait outside; the line usually stretches around past the glass pyramid, through the main courtyard, then through the passage and into the rear courtyard. Once you have successfully navigated the entrance challenge, the line for entrance tickets begins on the lower level.

At the height of summer; multitudes of visitors flock to the busiest museum in the world, 9.3 million people passed through the turnstiles in 2013 with numbers growing every year. The sauna like atmosphere of room 7/8 housing the Mona Lisa in the 13th to 15th century Italian Renaissance wing adds to the uncomfortable experience that is the Mona Lisa.

Da Vinci's masterpiece is seen as a cultural rite of passage; souring attendances requires institutions balancing art preservation with public assessability to limit crowds. Getting anywhere near the painting requires skills in balance, movement and evasion. The frantic pushing, shoving and crushing by people fighting for position is only surpassed by the clicking of smartphone cameras. Besides myself, not one person was actually viewing this painting, it was all about getting the shot and then the selfie.

I always thought the reason to visit art museums was to actually view the art in the flesh. All people were doing was fighting for position, snapping a pic and getting out to probably view in the future or brag to friends. Why wouldn't you view a high quality copy in an art book or download a high resolution picture?

I still can't believe no one was actually viewing this Renaissance masterpiece.