Introducing the Mona Lisa:
- It is NOT the size of a postage stamp. The picture measures about 20-inches wide by 30-inches high -- about the size of an average portrait. However, it was dwarfed by the free-standing wall on which it hung by itself. It's also guarded by a glass case, a permanent wooden barrier about two feet away and a temporary stanchion rope that is an additional six-to-ten feet away. Add to that about three rows of people, and what you see is much smaller than its press. Just like a man.
- Why do the eyes follow you wherever you go? Because all portraits do that. It's your eyes that are following its eyes, and not vice-versa.
- The painting is dark, just like all of Leonardo's paintings. You can't really make out any of his revolutionary improvements: the hazy, three-dimensional background; the slight veil over her head; the smoothness of her lower face as it melts into the slight smile. You can see all this only in close-up pictures on the Internet.
- People spend far too much time pretending to admire the Mona Lisa while ignoring the dozens of other paintings in the large gallery. The most impressive of these is the Marriage at Cana, on the opposite wall by Veronese, painted in 1563, about 50 years after the Mona Lisa.
- For those unfamiliar with Christian theology, this depicts Christ living it up at a post-wedding party where the hosts ran out of food. He took the remaining bread and fish, and turned it into a feast for all the guests.
- How big is this painting? The foreground figures are life-size.
- You can spend hours admiring every detail. Check out the colorful Renaissance drag, the 120 or so figures, the pets, the food, the classical architecture and the musicians. Veronese himself is fiddling on the left, while Titian is on base.
- While not as bright in real life as in this picture, the work is much more colorful than the Mona Lisa. And you can get close enough to lick the wine pouring off the jar in the lower right.
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