Louvre Museum, Paris — From the Perspective of an Art Layman
Whenever I go to a new place, like most other tourists, I search for ‘places to visit’ in that city. Most of the times, museums are the first suggestion that Google gives. Those are the places that half of the localities haven’t visited, but 90% of tourists coming to that city have.
I recently went to Europe. I wanted to visit the Beer Museum in Bruges, Belgium. While I was taking a free walking tour there, the most touristy thing one can do, I asked the guide about the Beer Museum. The 26-year-old local guide had never visited it.
The museum in Bruges came later during the trip. The first museum I went to was the coveted Louvre museum in Paris. For all the museum laymen like me who don’t know about the Louvre, it is the one that houses the world-famous Mona Lisa. That’s enough reference.
All of us being students, there was always a cash crunch. The plan was to complete the entire trip under a budget. But that didn’t stop us from standing in line for an hour to buy an expensive entry ticket, only to later realize that the entry was free for students. It was during this waiting time that I got the biggest shock of the trip. €1.5 to use the washroom. €1.5 for bottled water. France believes in following Newton’s 3rd Law.
After clicking a bunch of photos near the pyramid on the inside, we enter the museum.
I saw a long hall in front of me with lots of sculptures, all in white. The ceilings were magnificent, and the art pieces unique, each made to precision. The hall was filled with people, clicking pictures, partly awed by the majestic appearance of the museum, and partly curious to know the story behind these arts. Both of these faded as we went deeper inside the museum. The ignorance in me and most other tourists was evident.
I was reading the art descriptions in the beginning, but a few minutes later, my sole aim was to have a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. It was partly because I wanted to see it and mostly because I believed that after seeing the Mona Lisa, I would be able to walk straight out of the museum guilt free and with the content that I saw what I was supposed to see. So then began my stint to find the Mona Lisa in the incessant museum.
I walked continuously across the halls following the directions, ignoring all the beautiful paintings on the walls, and observing many other confused people around. The search mission ended about half an hour later when I entered a hall with very few paintings. On the wall opposite the entrance archway, the Mona Lisa was hung. I couldn’t see it from near the entrance as it was surrounded by a lot of people. The painting was already more than 12 feet away from the viewing area. Plus it was bordered with 10 feet of crowd. I tried to go as close as possible. My crowd crashing capabilities and my phone’s zoom together were able to capture this.
I feel bad for the paintings that are kept in the same hall as the Mona Lisa. Those timeless paintings would have faced negligence since forever.
Europe has many interesting museums as well. We were walking on the streets of Monaco at night, where I saw a very interesting representation of man, made from small clocks.
There are some enthusiasts who visit museums out of interest. For most others, it’s just an option to save themselves from the scorching afternoon sun. For me, when I look back at all those visits, I want to go back. To those boring museums and to those carefree lands!
