Paris, France: Meeting Mona Lisa!

   Getting a chance to visit the Louvre as part of this study abroad experience was truly amazing. This museum is huge and has works of art ranging across many different times in history from many different cultures. While there are countless beautiful works of art in the Louvre, one that particularly stuck out to me was the statue titled Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss. I loved this statue because of the emotion in the poses and the faces of the two figures. It is so dramatic yet at the same time so balanced with the way the two figures are posed together. The way the figures are carved they truly look like they could come to life at any second. The details such as the folds in their garments and on Cupid’s wings look so life like. How an artist could render something so full of life with such delicate details out of a piece of stone is so fascinating and impressive to me. 

(My favorite piece in the Louvre, Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss)

Another piece that comes to mind is, of course, the Mona Lisa. Perhaps even more so than the painting itself, what struck me was the crowd that came to see it. The Mona Lisa sits in the center back of the room with an insane line to see it up close and take pictures. The walls of the room also feature amazing artwork which people seem to ignore in order to try and get a glimpse of her. There are partitions up blocking the view of her from the sides and the museum staff rushes you through the room and blocks you from coming back to look at her once you’ve walked past. The painting is beautiful, however, and is almost like seeing a celebrity as it is an iconic image I’ve seen my whole life in my french textbooks, art classes, and history classes. It was interesting to actually learn about the painting as well. I never knew that Leonardo Da Vinci never actually finished the painting. According to the plaque, he was experimenting with the back landscape starting in 1503 and never finished it before selling it to King Françoise I on his last trip to France in 1516. I also was able to read about the layering painting technique used to create her iconic smile. 

(The crowd between me and the Mona Lisa).