From my childhood I had fascination for two things, one was because of
Marathi bhajan (भजन devotional song) roop
pahta lochani sukh jhale ho sajani, (रूप पाहता लोचनी, सुख झाले हो साजणी), a song dedicated to Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur and another one
was for Mona Lisa, thanks to history books and associated hype. I was indeed
happy to see Lord Vithoba’s wonderful
statue in black stone, but it took a while to see painting of Mona Lisa.
During my trip to Paris our guide dropped us Corrousel du Louvre an
exclusive shopping center that has entrance for Louvre Museum at 99, rue de
Rivoli. He was in hurry for his next assignment and rattled out the
instructions, ‘Go down the escalator, walk straight till you see the inverted
pyramid, take turn, move ahead, pass the information desk, take right turn,
look for board Danon and then after follow the sign boards of Mona Lisa, keep
moving till you see the greatest creation of Leonardo da Vinci’. I was least
interested in his parrot talk; only thing that registered my mind was to be
back at same place at 5.00 pm sharp.
This north entrance to Louvre museum was less crowded, yet there would
couple of thousands moving around. We went down the escalator to the
underground shopping center, cleared couple of formal security checks manned
mostly by African Italians (sounds similar to African Americans) and persons of
non-Italian origin. It sounds odd but it is so. We could see the inverted
pyramid ahead and tourist flocking around to take pictures in normal and all
possible unusual postures. We were moving with crowd till we reached the
entrance of Louvre. The tempting aroma from Starbucks was in the air, but we
had pressure of limited time. We cleared the final security and climbed through
circular steps the higher level. The place was extremely crowded. Had the crowd
been all Indian and sweating, it would have given a feel of Dadar station
during rush hours. I was protecting my fractured arm with external fixator as
well as taking care of camera and other photography equipment. I would pause for a while to
make sure that my wallet is safe. Many of visitors spend 12 Euros for the
museum tickets not to see the museum but to return home much richer with few wallets and may be some passports.
We climbed three levels, followed the direction shown on Mona Lisa
posters. Passing through the rows of naked statues we climbed yet another ten
steps or so and took a right turn as directed. Few steps ahead was a Grand
Gallery with beautiful paintings and statues (of course naked). I was gently
getting pushed with ever increasing crowd, mostly Indians and Chinese. A
thought came to my mind that credit for Euro survival should go to Indian and
Chinese tourists. I was with the crowd that would finally culminate in front of
Mona Lisa painting.
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| One of the exhibits in Grand Gallery at Louvre |
On way, I stopped for a while as I saw white non-Asian girl
trying to pinch something in the air and another girl was taking her picture. As
I came closer, I realized that her efforts were to have a picture that gives
illusion of her holding the placid penis of the naked statue in the background.
GREAT that’s all I can say. I had seen people posing to support leaning Pisa or
holding Taj in a pinch but this was a different experience, perhaps in tune
with Paris nightlife culture.
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| Mona Lisa at Louvre |
The crowd pushed me further and there came large hall on right side. As
I entered the hall and moved further, I noticed large number of paintings in
the hall, some were of huge size while others were smaller. There was a large
crowd and all hands were up trying to click the lone painting on the opposite
wall facing me. Few steps forward and I realized that this is the much hyped
Mona Lisa painting. I waited for a while to check if the crowd thins out. At
times many from the crowd would turn back giving a ray of hope that I can surge
in, but that was not to be so . All those chaps showing their back to Mona Lisa would
bend forward lift their neck as duck would do after catching a fish, stretch
out one hand with mobile to take a selfi with Mona Lisa painting for their FB
post. Standing may be twenty feet away and viewing the painting placed behind a
bulletproof glass was no pleasant experience. The 77 x 53 cms painting is too
tiny when we look at opposite wall with Paola Veronese’s Wedding at Cana
painting.In many instances the size doesn’t matter, but I feel here it should.
I went to one corner of the hall little away from the crowd and changed the
camera lens. Now with 300 mm lens I could draw Mona Lisa closer to me and
capture it in my camera to have a still closer look. May be I could appreciate. It’s
said that Leonardo de Vinci took over three years to paint Mona Lisa. Some
claim that the painting went on from 1503 to 1517. I fail to understand why such
long time was needed to paint a portrait. There are reports that 40 layers of
glaze has been applied with fingers and each layer took long time to dry. There
may thousand reasons but for me a question remains is it worth that? Yes it is
when such hype is created. It’s simple as many of persons enjoying alcoholic
beverages may not like a vintage Merlot or Shiraz (syrah), but that doesn’t
mean the wine to be inferior. Similarly Mona Lisa painting may be great from
the eyes of its connoisseurs but not from my view point. It’s matter of
individual liking. I can’t imagine a female without eyebrows and eyelids.
Recently some American ‘discovered’ one hair on the eyebrows after taking
series of pictures under varying IR and IV range. Wish that kind of time, efforts
and money was spent bon some philanthropic activity. I must admit that I fail
to appreciate her enigmatic smile. I am used to charming smile of Madhubala,
Madhuri Dixit and of course my loving wife, therefore the enigmatic smile
really puts me off. I have been seeing great paintings from Raja Ravi Varma on
canvas or Pattachitra on fabric. Likewise the paintings during Moghul periods,
painting by Persian artists in India, Madhubani paintings or those of Mysore,
Tanjore, Rajput style are outstanding. Unfortunately these are not marketed
well. There is no legend or any mystery or religious controversies attached to
the Indian paintings, the way it is for Mona Lisa. The latest being the hidden alien in this painting.
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| Me, my fractured arm with external fixator and Wedding at Cana |
Disappointed and disillusioned with Mona Lisa I turned back, came to the
exit of the hall and took a final look at the golden goose of Louvre, Mona
Lisa. Last year over 10 million visitors lined up in front of Mona Lisa. I do
not know how many would share my views, I am sure there would be many but they
might not admit. One has to have strength and courage to swim against the
current. After seeing more magnificent paintings, sculptures and collections
with no one crowding around, I managed to be at the entrance Courrousel du
Louvre at 5.00 pm, safely without losing my wallet and belongings to meet our
guide for better experience of Paradis Latin show. Sorry Mrs.Lisa
del Gioconda aka Mona Lisa.
