Mona Lisa

I am officially DONE with art from any time before the 1600s. And half of the art from the 1600s I'm done with, too. I absolutely cannot stomach one more Mannerist, Renaissance, or Ancient work of art for at least another twenty years. At least.

The number one thing on my list of "Shit I've got to do in Paris" was visit the Louvre. I'm an art student. If I walked away from Paris without the Louvre under my belt Michelangelo himself would rise up from the Fields of Elysium and punch me right in the teeth. I ventured into the Louvre on my own, Nicole and Shakira figuring the kids wouldn't be able to handle all such an overwhelming display of fantastic works of art. The Louvre is a palace, renovated for the housing of these works, and as I walked through the archway and into the courtyard where the entrance to the Louvre is, I had a moment with myself. I stared at the glass pyramid that announced my descent into the vast world of that museum and felt my breast swell with pride. I made it to the Louvre. Against all odds, I made it to Paris. And my ultimate triumph in that city was before me. I spent three long hours in that labyrinth of suppossed artistic magnificence, and when I came out I wasn't quite the same.

Because, God damnit!, the Mona Lisa was the biggest disappointment in history. Truly. I love you, Leonardo, but seriously? The Mona Lisa is the size of a fucking place mat. And the closest you can get to it is 10 feet away. Seeing the Mona Lisa was suppossed to be monumental. And it wasn't. That feeling permeated throughout the rest of my visit to the Louvre. I saw some amazing things, sure. Some of the sculptures made me nearly cry, especially Athena. But the rest was all pretty boring. Of all the things I enjoyed the most about the Louvre were the Mesopotamian and Egyptian collections. So sweet. There was an entire room of Egyptian sarcophogi and mummies-I couldn't help myself in there. I did the mummy walk when no one was looking. And gigantic tablets of heiroglyphics hung from the walls. I also really enjoyed walking through the preserved section of the ancient framework of the Louvre. They had all the original blueprints spread out for us to look at as you walk through a hallway made of stones fromthe 1200s. It was really freakin' cool. And thats about it for the Louvre.

In three hours, thats all I've got. Maybe I'm just too fed up with ancient art. Probably. I can't appreciate another piece of Western work that dates up to the Renaissance until I've immersed myself in contemporary art. An immersion so long and deep that I can't even remember the Renaissance. Cause I'm totally over it. And the Mona Lisa was the nail in the coffin.
Arrivederci, for now.
Love, Gabby