A place to talk about art on Farcaster. Artwork created by jacob.eth

The Mona Lisa… I’ve changed my mind.


It **is** worth seeing IRL.


I used to think otherwise: I had been disappointed fighting the crowds years ago, on my first trip to Paris. It was small and far away, but most of all I felt I’d “already seen it.” But today, I was impressed by a few elements that I’ve never been able to notice within the infinite copies:

+ Coloration: 
There is a mysterious blue hue to the sky that makes the terra cotta landscape deeply dark, yet warm. Like wet clay.

+ Scale: 
I actually find the compactness of it very charming now. You can take in the whole composition, in a natural way.  (Also learning that Da Vinci traveled with this for 15 years, continually re-finishing it, gave the size of it new meaning.)

+ Presence: 
Cultural memes are particularly hard to see with clear eyes. Being physically with a great work helps you to clean your mind of sedimentation from derivative impressions and look at it as an original again.

Recommend it.