In contrast...Musee du Louvre.

MONA LISA.

I've finally seen this Leonardo da Vinci painting in real life and as close as I could possibly get...which was metres away guarded behind a glass protective box and a barrier for the viewer to stand behind.
I heard one person say to their friend

"yeah it's good, but I just don't see what all the fuss is about"

which made me laugh because she had some point, I mean the other da Vinci Paintings were displayed much more low key, and on a scale 3 times as big as The Mona Lisa. Though this is probably the most famous and iconic painting in the world, therefore has every right to be protected and presented to such a high standard. Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, and luckily was recovered intact two years later, the painting has since also attracted much vandalism in the past for different reasons, and so the bullet proof glass is vital to keep the iconic painting safe.
When I looked at the painting I still couldn't understand how genuine it was, even though it was standing right there in front of me I had to keep reminding myself that this was the original Leonardo da Vinci. Although I had heard the painting was only small, I didn't realise how small it actually would be! when you walk into the room you can just see a swarm of people pushing and shoving each other to get to the front of the safety barrier, and a few feet ahead is the Mona Lisa, barely visible at this point. When i got to the front it was still a struggle to take a clear picture of the painting, I took like 15 photographs to eventually get a clear portrait of her.
It was as though a famous person was standing with her body guards in front of these crazy fans, pushing and taking photographs, it was just a constant repeat of flashing camera's. really bizarre.

I did really enjoy visiting the Louvre, I couldn't believe how massive the gallery was, it would take days to view the thousands and thousands of collected art pieces. I admit that I'm more keen on 20th century art than the exhibits in the Louvre, though the works of artists such as Botticelli, Raphael and da Vinci leave me in awe of their pure talent to paint so beautifully.