[sonserae]

I was in France last year and saw it again. Although it is behind a glass case, they still allow flash photography of the painting which is known to deteriorate and accellerate the aging process.

There are much better paintings in Le Louvre. Being a painter myself, I've always been baffled as to what becomes a "famous" painting or not. It's not usually the talent of the artist but maybe the reputation...one will never really know.

[Clemenza]

Your time viewing European art would be better served by seeing Velazquez's works in the Prado instead of queuing up with the tourists to see the most overrated work of art in history. Nevertheless, the Louvre was the highlight of my trip to the overrated city of Paris.

[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.