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.

[farmfriend]

I have always wondered if there was a colossal inside joke with this painting that only Da Vinci knew.,

See my post #2.

[Don Corleone]

Its all Bush's fault!

[Don Corleone]

Its all Bush's fault!

[u-89]

[SF Republican]

The Mona Lisa Is Deteriorating, along with french culture; it was a little disappointing to see simply because of the pictures people are taking of the portrait. People take pictures like the paparazzi, not 3 seconds go by without a flash.

[NCPAC]

That'll wipe the smile off her face.

[skeeter]

Given the age of the piece, the age of the building it's in, the variability of the atmosphere in Paris, etc., the painting is in pretty good shape.

I saw it a week ago Sunday. They don't even have a light on it - I could hardly see the darn thing.

[King Black Robe]

Really? I think it is a beautiful painting, but it is just a painting. It's not a life. Sometimes human perspective can get really screwed up. We groan over the natural deterioration of something like this -- and I do believe it is beautiful -- while tiny living, irreplaceable works of art are destroy through abortion, without a care by many. Not only that, they celebrate the destruction. There is no comparison in value and beauty between the two. The only difference is perceived value -- a statement more about the perceivers than the perceivees.

[presidio9]

"Conspiracy Theory" was fun, though.

So was the remake of "Ocean's Eleven," though Robert's part was more of an afterthought.

[plain talk]

People take pictures like the paparazzi, not 3 seconds go by without a flash.

Right. I was there at Christmas and its just as you described. There's a security guard who stands in front of it and tells the people not to do it but they click away anyway and ignore him.

[1Old Pro]

I have always considered the Mona Lisa painting overblown.

Well, I was going to ask, What makes this painting a masterpiece anyway?

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Last time I saw it was in 1996. It was not in a sealed case then, as I recall, but there was a sign that, in several languages, stated that no flash photography was allowed... while all around were tourists snapping flash photos.

[new cruelty]

My very intelligent and equally funny wife does a pretty good rendition of the promo for that movie- particularly the clip wherein one of the students asks julia's character why she isn't married.

[Agnes Heep]

Come, Death, let us today be wed,
For I despise this virgin life,
Let you in black, then, be the groom,
And I in white shall be your wife.
Then, when the troths and vows are said,
And all the revelry is still,
Together shall we lie in chill
Repose, and make our marriage bed.

[azhenfud]

EVERYTHING in france is deteriorating.

[azhenfud]

"I have always wondered if there was a colossal inside joke with this painting that only Da Vinci knew."

Yeah, like painting the homeliest broad alive and watching the french fall over themselves to embrace her.

[Junior]

Maybe it'll just fade, like the Cheshire Cat, until there's nothing left but the enigmatic smile...

[Savage Beast]

So what? When the Muslims take over France they're going to paint a burqa over everything but the background.

BTW, do you suppose they'll put burqas on the Venus de Milo and the Victory of Samothrace, or will they just blow them up?

Come to think of it, maybe they'll blow up Mona too.

[AngryJawa]

Come to think of it, maybe they'll blow up Mona too.

Maybe then les Francais and the rest of the world's elite will wake up and realize that this war is not all about "BushCo", but a war to save western civilization from a death cult looking to obliterate us all.

What a shame that it'll take the deaths of many more innocents for the Politically Correct to get off their a$$es..