The Louvre reached its pre-covid visitor level last year with almost 9 million visitors (it closed with a magic number of 10 million in 2019). However, 80% of those who come collectively go to see the same work, perhaps to put the long-awaited photo in front of it. Yes, we are talking about Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, a work that, contrary to popular belief, has become a nuisance in the museum with its expectations and exaggerated fan base… Play it.

Move on to the Mona Lisa. So we come to this week’s news: the plan to remove the Mona Lisa from the room. In this regard, des Cars stated that the transfer was due to the room where the work was located not accepting enough visitors and said, “For this reason, we think we did not do our job correctly.” In this way, the new position will aim to “end public frustration.”

A new room for the most famous smile. If the plan goes ahead, the Louvre’s idea is to place the painting in its own room in the Museum’s basement. According to Vincent Delieuvin, chief curator of 16th-century art, this is a large room where the Mona Lisa will be housed in the back, “behind security glass, so at first glance it would look like a postage stamp.” This will create two underground entry points for visitors: one just for the Mona Lisa and the other for temporary exhibitions.

There are too many people for one job. The Mona Lisa’s value is estimated at $870 million, and 30,000 people from around the world queue for two hours every day to tiptoe around the remaining 35,000 works of the French art gallery. In 2019, New York Times critic Jason Farago suggested in a report on the famous painting that the museum could build a pavilion for it. Of course he wasn’t crazy. By using the Mona Lisa as the center of obsession, Farago attempted to express, somewhat sarcastically, many people’s feelings about mass tourism and digital narcissism. In other words, waiting in lines and waiting to go to the museum was becoming an ordeal, and Leonardo’s work was at the center of the debate.

Then-museum director Jean-Luc Martínez said the Louvre could take additional steps to alleviate “Monamania” with new entrances with scheduled times in the coming years. At the beginning of 2023, it looked like rumors of changes would become reality: It was announced that daily attendance would be limited by about a third, that is, to 30,000 people. According to the museum’s new director, Laurence des Cars, “I would like the visit to the Louvre to be an enjoyable moment, especially for those discovering the museum for the first time, which represents 60% of the visitors.”

“The world’s most disappointing masterpiece.” It was even rumored that a special room might be included where a version of the Mona Lisa could be found for tourists desperately searching for that selfie with the iconic painting for posterity. Whatever the case, the Louvre certainly felt this change. Before we go any further, a recent analysis of online visitor reviews of major museums and their most lauded works of art ranked the Mona Lisa as “the world’s most disappointing masterpiece,” with almost 40% of reviews being negative.

We’ll have to see what impact the move to a new location has on the business, if it eventually happens. Let’s remember that the Mona Lisa has never undergone a full restoration. It has remained in good condition for more than 500 years, with just a few coats of varnish and special lasers removed in 2012 to remove centuries of dirt and grime without damaging the paint.

Image | PXhere, PXhere

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