What a shame …

In the summer of 2012 I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Paris. It was a business trip, but that doesn’t mean I spent my evenings sitting in a hotel room. I took full advantage of it. The office is in the suburbs, away from everything, but I stayed in Montparnasse even though it meant a 90 minute round trip commute to the office every day. Montparnasse is in the heart of the city, walking distance to The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Seine River, great restaurants and the Louvre.

I love the Louvre. I think it is the finest museum I have ever visited. In the two weeks I was in Paris I visited this magnificent museum four times, and I’m still not sure I’ve seen everything. Every time I visited I found some other part of the museum that I had completely missed on my other visits. Actually, I’m sure I haven’t seen it all.

But there is one part of the Louvre that I do not like – the Denon Wing. This wing contains some amazing paintings and sculptures, or so I can only guess. You see, the Denon Wing is also the home of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The crowds that come to see this single painting overwhelm the galleries making it impossible to properly enjoy the other amazing works of art that are there.

If you want to see the Mona Lisa, first you must get through this. Way down at the end of that gallery full of people, on the right, is room 6, the home of Mona.

Some of those people look mildly interested in the paintings on display, but have no doubt, they are all there for one single reason. And if there were people who wanted to see those other paintings, how would they do that with that mass of people pushing them along to a single destination?

Once you reach room 6, you are presented with this. See that little painting behind the glass towards the right of the frame? That’s the Mona Lisa.

Do you see all those other paintings on the wall? Congratulations, you’ve now had a better look at those paintings then the thousands of people crowded into this small room, most of whom are oblivious to the fact there is more too see in room 6.

Finally, you make your way to the front of the pack, your chance to finally see the Mona Lisa. Have a look behind you. As you’re trying to enjoy the Mona Lisa, all those people are pushing and jostling behind you, wondering when you’re going to get out of the way so they can see.

This is the photo the Louvre doesn’t want you to see. It took me several tries to finally capture it. Each time I tried, security came over and stood in front of my lens. They didn’t say anything, they just made sure they were in the way. I tried both sides of the display, and it was the same with different guards. I finally took the photo without raising the camera, so they were unaware.

This is no way to view a work of art as important as the Mona Lisa, or any piece of art for that matter. It is shameful that the Louvre allows this to happen.

If the Louvre cannot come up with a way to display this famous painting in a manner that allows visitors to properly view and enjoy not just the Mona Lisa but the other art works in her presence as well, then it is time to move Mona to a museum that can. Or box her up and put her in storage until they can display her in manner that shows respect to this work of art and the others around her.

You’re probably thinking, “You can’t be serious? Take the Mona Lisa off display? You’re nuts!” Well no, I’m not. I don’t really want the Louvre to take the Mona Lisa off display. But the manner that she is displayed now is not good enough. I want them to find a better way to have her on display. They need to restrict the number of people in room 6. Maybe they need separate, timed tickets to view her. Whatever they do, they need to have the Mona Lisa in a room by herself so that the other paintings are not lost in her presence.

If you’re wondering, “did he make it to the front of the pack to see Mona?” Yes, I did. I had too. Before I left for Paris my sister asked me to get a picture of the Mona Lisa, so I did. If not for that request, I would have taken one look at the crowd in the long hallway and turned around. I don’t do crowds very well.

Despite the shameful way that I feel the Louvre handles the display of the Mona Lisa, I still believe it is the finest museum I have ever visited. The other galleries are spacious and almost vacant compared to the Denon Wing. Those galleries are a pleasure to wander and absorb the great works of art they contain.

I’ll leave you with a small selection of photos from the other galleries of the Louvre.