Why is Certain Art Famed?

Visitors attempting to see the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506)

Upon walking into the Louvre in Paris, visitors are greeted with signs in every language. This quickly changes once inside, where the placards and information are in French unless visitors have an audio guide. What tourists are able to see all over the museum are signs that point to the Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci, 1503–06) or the Venus de Milo(Alexandros of Antioch ca. 100BC) and a few other “important” paintings. On the way to these ‘greatest hits,’ however, there are dozens — or possibly hundreds– of beautiful old artworks passed by.  Once nearing the Mona Lisa, visitors might find a hoard of people at least 5 deep block the view, taking pictures of, and with, the worldwide acclaimed painting. The Mona Lisa is diminutive in real life; it is encased in glass and surrounded by 5 guards at the underwhelming size of 77cm by 53cm (30in by 20.8in). Most of the visitors gaping at the Mona Lisa ignore the comparatively  gigantic 6.77 m by 9.9 m (22.2ft by 32.5ft) painting behind them that is called Les Noces de Cana (The Wedding at Cana) by Paolo Veronese (1563). Why is that? Shouldn’t each  piece of art be appreciated individually and separated by style, instead of notoriety?

Left to Right, La Gioconda by Unkown (Assumed to be a student or follower of da Vinci, 1503-1516), and Mona Lisa-Leonardo Davinci (1503-1506)

Why are particular artworks famous? The Louvre contains over 76,000 pieces in their inventories and receives over 9 million visitors annually. The Louvre’s map points out 9 pieces of art to all those visitors, one of which is obviously the Mona Lisa.  What makes it famous, besides being by Leonardo da Vinci and being the first three dimensional painting? [1]  Logically, it’s a portrait done to depict a person, and the artistry of it is typically not as important as the person being painted, but da Vinci undermined that concept by using this new technique.  However, what the Louvre (and many history books) do not discuss is how this painting has managed to stay famous.  Psychologist Claus-Christian proposes that the reason the Mona Lisa remains famous is exposure and what a person is told is “good art.”[1]  Despite the characteristics the  La Giocanada (ca. Atelier of Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1503-16) shares with the Mona Lisa, it is not nearly as well known and deemed a copy.  In Claus-Christian’s (2015) experiment he created two groups, showing one the Mona Lisa discussing its importance and showed the other half the painting in the Prado.  In each case when the image of the Mona Lisa and the picture from the Prado were digitally combined the subject preferred the combined images that more closely resembled the painting from the group they were initially split into.[1]  The Mona Lisa is referenced in images and films, and the public has likely been conditioned to believe that this painting is truly beautiful. Finally, the image is one of the few images that appears to have an aged look since even the curator said it would be a “national scandal” to restore the painting.  Due to da Vinci’s tendency of mixing veneer and paint for restorationists to remove old veneer they would also have to remove the original paint thereby damaging the portait.[2]   So this painting is one of the few that does not look newer, fresh, or even well taken care of.

Les Noces de Cana- “The Wedding of Cana” by Paolo Veronese (1563)

Across the room, facing the Mona Lisa the Veronese’s Les Noces de Cana, a depiction of The Wedding at Cana, should be considered more often than it is, because it is practically a mural and depicts an important religious event that is less standard than all other depictions.  The image comes from an iconic scene from the bible, and was commissioned by monks around 1536.  So why is this painting not more famous?  The wall sized painting is not considered technically outstanding, but it does contain 126 characters that vary in scale and location across the canvas.[3]  Another reason could be the deception of the age of the painting, because all of the other paintings kept up in the same room as the Mona Lisa  are from the same general time period.  The Mona Lisa does not look like it has ever been restored compared to all the other pieces which have colors which pop and make the art look practically new.   Looking at the Mona Lisa is a bit like a time capsule and delving into unnamed water.  The Wedding of Cana however could be ignored because it is a religious scene, which has been done throughout the lead up to the Renaissance.  The painting took over 17 hours to create and now it is often confused with depictions of “The Last Supper.”  However, the painting should be appreciated more than it is, even with the questioningly lauded painting across the hall.

In short, the Louvre is a maze and the sections create a labyrinth of galleries that only point to nine “important” artifacts that are lucky enough to become famous via name association.  The Mona Lisa remains one of those nine because the painting is listed as one of da Vinci’s greatest achievements during the Renaissance.  That, however, cannot be the only reason it is famous when even the smallest sketch by da Vinci is considered priceless, in which case it devalues the Mona Lisa.  Les Noces de Cana is one of the multitude of works of art to come out the Renaissance era, however Veronese is not one of the names given to exemplify the era therefore his painting becomes one of the multitudes lost in the name game of history.  The Louvre feeds into the historical star system and the artwork the museum holds loses its place and importance in history.

[1] Carbon, Claus-Christian, and Vera M. Hesslinger. “Restoring Depth to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.” American Scientist 103.6 (2015): 404-9. ProQuest. Web. 21 July 2016.

[2] Lipson, Karin, Matthews, Jack. “WHY THE MONA LISA? She’s Hard to See and Needs a Cleaning, but She’s Still Great. SIDEBAR: FAMOUS, YES…BUT GREAT? the Critics Comment (See End of Text).” Newsday, Combined editions ed.: 12. Oct 13 1991. ProQuest. Web. 21 July 2016.

[3]Roderick, Conway Morris. “Working with Veronese.” The Spectator Aug 29 2009ProQuest. Web. 21 July 2016 .