Doing My Cultural Duty at the Louvre

She's back there somewhere...

It amazes me how some things become cultural icons. I can only imagine there's a certain amount of path dependence in this. Someone - an important critic, a fashionable taste-maker, a high-profile political figure - likes something and bam! the rest of us like it too, for centuries to come.

What I'm going on about, of course, is the absolute pain in the ass it is to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.  I'm not big into painting, as I've said before, but I felt that it would just be weird to spend a day in the Louvre and not see the Mona Lisa. I could imagine people back home. It would be the first thing they asked and I would have to admit "no, I didn't see the Mona Lisa" and suddenly my whole level of cultural sophistication would come under suspicion.

So I decided to do my cultural duty and see the thing.

I have to admit, I never did see it well, because what I encountered when I walked into the famous painting's gallery was a mob of unruly, camera-wielding tourists all eager to do their cultural duty, too - and have digital proof they had done it. I thought for a brief second about trying to elbow my way through, but I rapidly decided it wasn't worth it. I stood on tip toe, looked enigmatic Mona in the eyes, and then took a picture of the frustrating crowd, almost all of whom were using flashes despite the signs forbidding flash photography.

The Louvre contains hundreds of masterpieces, my favorites being in the sculpture sections - the Nike of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. At none of these artistic marvels did I find myself wishing for a SWAT team.

I don't mean to imply that the Mona Lisa doesn't deserve its hype, but at the same time, why the Mona Lisa? Why do some things fascinate us and feed our imaginations while others are just... cool? I doubt I'll ever understand. But at least when I get the inevitable "did you see the Mona Lisa" I'll be able to answer "yes."

Copyright 2010 Sara Harding