Louvre: The Mona Lisa Is Deteriorating

AP ^ | April 26, 2004

[presidio9]

The Mona Lisa (search), Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece of a mysterious woman with a slight smile, is deteriorating, and the Louvre Museum (search) said Monday it will conduct an in-depth technical study to determine why.

The thin panel of poplar wood that the work is painted on has become deformed since conservation experts last evaluated the painting, the Louvre said in a written statement. It did not say when the last evaluation was.

The Louvre said the condition of the Mona Lisa was causing "some worry" and that a new study on the state of the work has been launched.

The study, to be conducted by the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France, is to better determine what materials the painting is made of and evaluate the painting's special vulnerability to climate changes.

[Conservomax]

It's the damn Opus Dei - curse them to hell!

[nomorelurker]

I saw it just in early Dec. 2003 and was amazed at the flash photos being taken and thought at the time that it was not a good idea. The new digital cameras at least seemed to need less or no flash at all. I did not get a good look at the Venus De Milo because two bus loads of tourists (guess where from)unloaded and literally ran to the Venus De Milo and began snapping and recording away. My wife and purposely took no camera to the museum. I wanted to see it not film it.

[wideminded]

I have always considered the Mona Lisa painting overblown. I have never thought this a particularly great work of art

To each his own. I hadn't looked at it for a while and when I saw it at the beginning of this thread, my reaction was Wow. Maybe I would react the same way if I saw a woman who looked like that. Da Vinci was an incredible genius and I think it shows through here.

[texasbluebell]

"Conspiracy Theory" was fun, though.

But only because of Mel...

[presidio9]

I met who called Las Meninas the most grotesque and disturbing work of art she had ever seen.

Well, it does have a certain Jon Bennet Ramsey quality about it.

My favorite Renaissance master is el Greco.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

"Girl with the Pearl Earring" aka 'The Patanol Commercial Chick'.

[Larry Lucido]

Da Vinci needed a manzier?

85 posts and no one caught the reference.

BTW, it's a "bro"!

[Clemenza]

LOL. Yes, the Infanta does bear an uncanny resemblence to Jon Benet surrounded by the cast of Time Bandits.

[Clemenza]

I prefer "Girl with the Pearl Necklace" but I cannot post it on a family forum. :-)

[presidio9]

I got it and thought it was funny, but if you give him too much credit he tends to get a little full of himself...

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Why did you have to say that knowing how absolutely vulgar it is?

If you are going to think sick things, keep them in your head.

[Ditter]

I agree. I saw the Mona Lisa 40 years ago & was terribly disappointed. It is small, drab & unintresting. I have seen it twice since & my opinion has not changed.

[Calvin Locke]

FWIW, an HS art teacher of mine went to see it at the National Gallery in D.C. around 1971. He said they had a magnifying bubble
on it when he went, and the level of detail in the background is amazing.

[Joe_October]

I enjoyed seeing Napolean's hat. I don't understand why people don't just buy a post card.

[gcruse]

85 posts and no one caught the reference.

Not so.  Some of us permit ourselves the luxury of the occasionally unexpressed thought.

[Clemenza]

Why did you have to say that knowing how absolutely vulgar it is?

I'm a guy and this isn't a Church discussion board. I couldn't help myself...

[fight_truth_decay]

PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART might have their own Mona Lisa, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which is on view for the first time in almost a decade through March 28. This enigmatic painting, officially entitled La Gioconda, is thought to be either a preparatory study for the Mona Lisa by Leonardo himself or a copy painted by one of his followers shortly after the creation of the original, which now resides in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The painting was given to the Museum in 1983 by Henry H. Reichhold, a summer resident of Prouts Neck, who purchased the work in the 1960s after the death of its European owner. Subsequently, La Gioconda was analyzed at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at Harvard University. Conservators determined that the painting was executed before 1510, but they were unable to confirm or refute Leonardo’s hand in its creation.

Unlike a true copy, the Museum’s Mona Lisa differs from the original in size, composition of background landscape, and, most notably, the absence of the enigmatic smile–details which suggest an early study rather than a simple reproduction. Regardless of the true authorship of the painting, La Gioconda brings into sharp focus the kinds of problems facing conservators and art historians today, and it is a compelling work of undeniable artistic quality on its own.

Source: Portland Maine Museum of Art at (207) 775-6148 ext. 3227.http://www.portlandmuseum.org/Da%20Vinci.htm

[presidio9]

I was under the assumption that the "real" Mona Lisa is actually titled "La Gioconda." Is this incorrect?

[Timeout]

What's she smiling at?

[Ann Archy]

Were you surprised at how SMALL it was? I sure was.

The sealed case is probably why it's deteriorating!