What The Mona Lisa sounds like - The Sound Traveler 3
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2016
- This episode of The Sound Traveler was recorded by Ben Markey, who can be found at / benmarkey1
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this is pretty much exactly like how I remember the real experience to be. Disappointing. It's a small painting behind four meters of empty space we can't enter, blocked by a rope and a hundred tourists. It hangs in a room full of amazing paintings, each at least as impressive as the Mona Lisa, yet nobody thinks they're worthy of even a glance. I found this room to be the most depressing room in the entire Louvre, just for that reason.
also, that dude in green really really liked his own face, he must've taken sixty selfies.
EDIT: Great video Destin, thanks for doing what you're doing!
+hermest99 I had the same experience. I found the Mona Lisa to be not nearly as interesting as a lot of the paintings in the Louvre.
I thought the best was the Napoleonic apartments.
As above.. totally not worth it, when there are so many other nice paintings there.
I definitely know what you mean. I went to France my freshman year of high school and we visited the Louvre as one of our stops. Of course, we visited the Mona Lisa. I took a small picture and took little interest in the painting beyond that, since it's merely a tourist attraction at this point rather than a work of art. Sadly, I didn't have as much of an appreciation for art back then as I do now, so I didn't take the opportunity to explore the rest of the museum as much and stare at wonder at the other paintings. Although a lot of them weren't really to my taste, in that I like vibrant colors and works of those of the impressionists, whereas a lot of the Louvre's works are those of the classic renaissance style.
the painting that covers the entire opposite wall to the Mona Lisa was incredible for me, i stood there looking at every centimeter of it for like 40 minutes(and totally agree with the disappointing experience of the Mona Lisa itself
Small painting in a big room with too many people taking too many selfies.
Most people are spending 10 seconds looking at the painting, and 90 seconds setting up their selfie.
That was stressful and unfulfilling
The reason the museum keeps people that far away is so that people won't notice her missing eyebrows.
To be honest if they are going to put a rope 3m away from the painting, I think it's better to just google Mona Lisa's wiki and watch it there.
+
if you can't even take a close look at an art piece, you can't fully comprehend it. I think the artist would be disappointed if he saw how his artwork is presented there.
Of course leonardo da vinci probably didn't see the mona lisa as his greatest work like many do today. I imagine he was more proud of The Last Supper. Hey, I wonder if we'll get to see that on the sound traveller.
+IamGrimalkin It's all a marketing campaign to increase it's worth and attractiveness. There really isn't much to it in reality.
For those disappointed in the experience of viewing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, there is an alternative. There's an unsigned copy of the painting, probably painted by one of Leonardo's students from the original, which is (normally) on display in the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. It hangs on a wall, unprotected by glass, with a rope keeping you just beyond arms-length. Like in the Louvre, it is only one of the fantastic works of art that can be seen during a visit, so don't go only to see Mona Lisa's twin.
For example, two other portrait paintings of considerable note in the Prado collection are the Portrait of a Cardinal by Rafael (the creation of watermarked silk through paint is extraordinary) and Las Meninas (The Ladies in Waiting, or The Handmaidens) by Velazquez which is a masterpiece of technique, including both a self portrait of the artist painting a picture, and a reflected view of the observers of the scene in front of you (who are the King and Queen of Spain).
One odd co-incidence of all three of these paintings is that, although they are all portraits, their titles do not identify the subjects. Although most of the people in Las Meninas have been identified (including the location of the painting in Velazquez' studio) this has been by deduction, rather than documentation. The identity of the Cardinal in Rafael's portrait is less certain, and at least two candidates have been proposed. And although it is thought that the Mona Lisa is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, this again is supposition, not backed by contemporaneous documentation.
I went there as a teen, something like 15 years ago. At that time we could go up to the wood ring we see in the video. I was really disappointed in it. I remembered the class we had about this painting and how cool it was to see the eyes following you as you walk past her. So I really wanted to make this experiment and try it out. I couldn't because we were too many people to be able to do so (as depicted in the video). Also, I expected a bigger painting and a special lighting to it that would make it special.
And it's funny because in the background sound, in french, you can hear people criticizing the painting and how it is showcased.
Wow, that was really cool. I love how everyone kind of just disregarded all the other art in the room.
All those other paintings.
The sound quality is better than in the last two videos!
It's not muffled anymore!
Thanks Destin!
People of the bygone era may not have had high resolution cameras to capture those rare moments that happened in their lives but they definitely experienced each moment in its entirety and that was enough to leave a mark in their minds for a lifetime. They could even relive that moment again wherever they are, whenever they wanted. People now surely get every moment captured in high definition but I doubt if they take in the magic of each moment into their minds.
I visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa 30-some years ago. I don't recall having to keep such a distance. So sad.
Wow things have changed since the 90's. I remember getting much closer to the painting. Close enough that I could see the cracks in it. Now you're barely allowed to be in the same room with it.
Haha the Guy in green sums it up... He's come so far, made it till the very front and then the entire time, he stands there posing.. turning his back to the Actual painting 😂
Black mirror of the past century would have definitely had this in one of their episodes 😉😛
Its amazing to see so much security and protection, and so many people trying to observe the painting, something so simple.
Are those dark patches one the ends of the wall dirty from the guards leaning on them so much?? I think those should be washed...
+Davis Russcher I too was wondering how many years of security guards leaning on the wall left hose discoloured patches...
+Davis Russcher That's so racist. Can't believe you think their skin color washed off onto the wall.
+Wordsnwood (Art Mulder) Looks like they are worn, not dirty though,
+RichieDcik I think he was simply referring to their dirtiness which comes from being human(most likely dirt off their clothes, oils from their skin, simple wear from friction), not race specific at all?; jumping to conclusions very hastily
😂😂😂
This channel and these videos are amazing Destin. Keep up the fun and innovative content, hoping to see more of these!
My family and I went to Paris in June of 2019, I loved the city. My experience in the Louvre, was similar to that in the video, although the museum was shoulder to shoulder, the room with the Mona Lisa was so crowded I couldn’t get closer than 40 plus feet. Other tourists in the museum traveled in packs crowding exhibits and then stood in front, and took way to many selfie’s . The Louvre was the only disappointment of our trip.
I have to say I love this page, and your other pages, thanks for all the great content.
Just like I remember it. Kind of jarring, actually (this is my first Sound Traveler video).
It's my belief that the real artwork is Performance Art, and it's in front of the ropes, not behind them. Fascinating room.
I have been binging out on Smarter Every Day for a few months now. I found this today. When I visited the Louvre in the '90's we could get as close as the inner ring in your video. It was still a loud commotion of shutters clicking. The sound you have is awesome, so much more realistic than in a regular travel video.
I was just there a few weeks ago and that crowd is not even a tenth of what was there when I was. It was packed all the way to the door way from the hall. It was intense!
I actually saw the Mona Lisa when I was 12 years old back in 1980 on a school trip - very strange experiencing it again some 40 years later. It has actually moved, when I was there it was in a vault against a wall and the room was packed with people. It was very difficult to fight your way to the side of the room to view it, luckily I was small and eager. This set up is much better and less crowded.
Intersting... It was like actually being annoyed standing there ;)
This is so amazing
Dang the Mona Lisa experience has changed since I was there 21 years ago - back then you could get within two feet of the painting - it was hanging in a recess protected by glass - and boy you needed to be that close to study it - it's so small!
It’s...AMAZING
it really feels like you’re there
impersonal.
I found it impersonal.
which is the saddest thing that could happen to any piece of art.
+DedElec I felt the same thing. It was quite unusual wasn't it?
+SmarterEveryDay maybe this is the same kind of thing that happens to people. once other's realize they are special... they are never the same person they once were.
+DedElec Same feeling dude, maybe we've builtup so high expectations subconsciously that when we see the actual (well not really the actual real one, but hey, close to it, thanks to Destin) thing, there's just this emptiness that we feel that was never filled..
+SmarterEveryDay I had the chance to go and see the Mona Lisa last summer and deliberately chose not to because of this. I know what the Mona Lisa looks like and I know that I won't get anything more out of it, other than a few bruises from other tourists knocking me around a bit as they try to push to the front.
I did have a similar experience to what you describe at the Vatican a few days later though, looking at the fresco in the Sistine chapel, I don't know why, maybe it was all the tourists there as well, but there was something missing. It felt... empty, like it wasn't a holy place any more.
This described much of my trip around Europe this summer. When I would be trying to appreciate something or learn something, a horde of "checklist tourists" would come through and eye-ball me while they tried to take a selfie. I also feel like I paid triple on my trip because of it.
My wife said that this experience would be so much better if done from the perspective of one musician in a concert piece. For example, she used to play flute in high school and the experience of being a flute player or any other instrument player gives an entirely different perspective that few get to enjoy. It would be amazing to use this type of experience for a flute player playing in a concert piece, or a tuba player, or a trumpet player, or a violinist. To experience music as the musician would. This is what she was thinking about when she saw the Mona Lisa.
I agree with the general consensus--it is small, too valuable to be accessible without risk of theft, and it was not showcased as well as I would have expected for such a valuable, treasured painting.
First did this in the summer of 1971, it hasn't changed much, but you could get much closer back then.
And yes - "no-one" was actually looking, David's statue in Florance was similar when I finally got there in person in 2012...
I expected a smaller, darker room where the mona lisa was among all the other paintings on a wall instead of isolated by itself. I also pictured people just staring at it instead of taking many selfies and other pictures of themselves with it. That was a very interesting experience!
When I visited the Louvre many years ago, there was only a thick velvet cord separating the Mona Lisa from the visitors. It was only a few feet ahead on the wall, so I could see the brush strokes, and it was truly a memorable experience. How disappointing that now it's so far away that it's hard to get a good look at it. We may as well stay home and look at its picture in a book instead!
I love the sound experience. The visuals, as everyone who has been there in person has already said, are only remarkable in that you can't see much detail in the painting. But the audio/video experience was fantastic.
Much more realistic than the standard video. I'm watching this with the lights out at night and it's like there are people all around me.
I’ve been to this on a trip and it’s great to be able to go back down memory lane in a weird way like this. I must admit though, when there I got pushed around just like in the video.
The audio in this was perfect!
it's so far and seems funny how she is standing there smiling at all people coming to take photos.
It was much smaller and far away than I expected. Also when I was there, it was really crowded, so you couldn't fully appreciate the painting. It was much better in the video (fewer people).Finally I think there was much more interesting art in the museum, but everyone seemed to rush to go to Mona Lisa....Anyway thanks for the video, enjoyed it as always!!
The audio quality is so clear, it sounds like someone is in the room with me!
Wow!! I've been there before and it's nuts how immersive this is!!
That video just made me sad, Destin. It should have come with a warning sticker!
Your outlook on life tends to lead to very upbeat videos. I know that all the rampant self-absorption was a surprise/ shock to you -- it shows. A most dystopian experience.
Pretty cool. I appreciated the headphone check at the beginning to. Using headphones provided to me by work and not sure which was left or right, no markings. all the camera clicking was interesting. Thanks.
When i visited paris with my school and we saw mona lisa me and my friends were shocked it wasnt nearly as impressive as i thought and on the opposite wall there was a HUGE painting which was way more impressive.
There’s nothing more frightening than forgetting something amazing.
Growing up in Normandy not to far from Paris, and studying arts for as long as I can remember, I had the chance to go see the Mona Lisa from a very young age. First time was pretty anticlimactic, with everything you've been said you're supposed to feel and experience, when you're 6 you just see a pretty painting that everybody has to watch from far away behind a security line. I think that you have to come and watch it at different times, in separate sessions, to start to realy be moved by the painting itself more than the aura and legend of it.
When I first saw the Mona Lisa, it was still located in a hallway where you could get right in front of it. I mean it was behind glass but there wasn't like a whole perimeter around it. Still just as crowded though.
It is exactly like how I felt when I was there: A lot of people and a lot of noise, the painting is small and far away, and everyone taking photos. It is almost impossible to enjoy the painting like similar art given the circumstances, so I don't blame everyone just taking photos and walking away.
Wow, times have changed a lot! I remember when I saw the Mona Lisa being a kid about 40 years ago. The painting was situated in a pretty small and dark room, mystically illuminated and... with almost no people there! It was behind bulletproof glass of course, but you could stand just in front of it to watch every detail! It was kind of a worship in those days. Now, it's just Disneyland :( .
When I went to see it, I ended up giving up and taking a picture from the back of the room. What still astonishes me is that everyone was so hot to trot over that painting, they completely ignored two of Michaelangelo's Bound Slaves around the corner. Heck, there was another Da Vinci outside that only had a handful of people looking at it. All because the Mona Lisa was stolen...
very different from what i remember in 1971.
at that time - there were no barriers.
we were close enough to touch it - but nobody did so.
those were the "good old days" - when people were still civilized.
(i don't even recall any glass barrier.)
and i was shocked that it was SO SMALL - about 8 by 8 inches !
The behavior of everyone at the Mona Lisa is one of the big reasons why I haven't touched my DSLRs in over a year. I realized that I when I brought my camera somewhere, I was never really present. Once I put down my camera, I was better able to enjoy things in the moment, rather than unsuccessfully re-live them after the fact.
It's frustrating that you can't get close. My favourite thing about paintings is admiring every individual stroke. Understanding how it all came together piece by piece, then stepping back and being wowed .
Reminds me a bit of visiting the Virgen de Guadalupe in Mexico City. There, they actually had moving walkways in front of it to keep people moving.
I know that this a place for remarks about your video and the Mona Lisa painting.....I have to add that I did enjoy looking at a Van Gogh painting and being able to see the real paint and the real brush strokes up-close when I went to an exhibit at the museum in Toledo, Ohio.
What I had expected was being able to get closer to the painting and more people actually studying it. Instead there was more distance between myself and the painting as well as the fact that everyone around seemed more in love with the idea of being there than the actual painting. Everyone was more concerned with documenting the moment than actually being in it.
+Talkren I also did not expect to have all the other beautiful works of art around it totally eclipsed by it's presences. I noticed almost no one looking at the paintings surrounding it even the giant one with the beautiful gold frame.
I enjoyed the paintings surrounding the Mona Lisa much more. The reason the Mona Lisa is protected so much is because she was stolen about 70 years ago, and she became a cult like mystery. So when the Italians finally returned her she sat behind the glass you now see.
What a wonderful video from which you can learn almost everything wrong about our modern society. Absolutely mesmerizing and in many ways sad scene! We used to live for a moment, but suddenly we live to live within a pic nobody's gonna take a look at, again. Thank you!
I thought I would see the Mona Lisa up-close on your video since I sure will never go there myself to see it. But I should have realized there would be many people there walking and talking and barriers around it. I saw a Van Gogh painting at Toledo, Ohio Art Museum and only my friend and I stood there as a guard stood beside it and we could see it up-close in front of our eyes. Back then there were not any cell phones in 1990 that I CAN RECALL AND I DID NOT HAVE ONE AND CERTAINLY NOT ONE THAT TOOK PICTURES.....I guess people may not have been allowed to take pictures of the Van Gogh painting that I saw. I have no memory of exactly what the painting looked like. At the time I was there, I was very glad to see it "in person" right there before my eyes!
I can't stand seeing people turn there backs on these sights. It's so weird. I hate the whole selfy thing to be honest
I visited the Lourve and the Mona Lisa a few months ago. this was exactly how it felt. Valuable, but so damn frustrating.
the painting on the opposite far wall looks huge and amazing whatever it is. i would be there.
I agree Destin, just seeing people looking at things with their phones just saddens me.
Take 1 single pic, put your phone away, enjoy the art.
I didn't realize it was in such a big room with other paintings, the wall they put in the middle makes the room seem smaller in pictures.
My experience with the mona lisa ?
Well, she's not smiling while looking at you, she's smiling while looking at the most incredible painting of all time, just behind you.
I'm so glad I don't have such an attachment to my phone.
Ok Boomer
Feels like people were there for the scene not for the art, but I guess the art did create that atmosphere where they can enjoy it how they want it to be.
I agree with Alejandro NQ. I have even seen Mona Lisa live in the Louvre but the fact that you cant get close to it makes it so that you are unable to see the details that makes the portrait good.
So much people. And not even considering it might be fake and the real one is kept in a safe somewhere.
I hate tourists so much. Just look at all those people tricking themselves into thinking they've *seen* the Mona Lisa because they took a selfie in the same room as it while hundreds of other people did the same thing. God damn.
I often say the same. But remember, we are all tourists ;).
Rambling thoughts to follow...
This was the first of these videos that I have watched, and I was impressed by the sound experience. Very cool.
I thought my impression would be unique, but I see in the comments that I'm not alone. I would love to go to France and see the rest of the Louvre, but if it was just the Mona Lisa by itself, I wouldn't walk across the street for that experience. Tiny little, far away picture, surrounded by too many people. From that distance, you can't see any detail and couldn't even tell if they had just hung a poster in the frame.
The 3D sound experience, while cool, made me uneasy. I get anxious in a pressing crowd, and even just hearing all the people around my like that bothered me.
Ugh, selfies... There is a reason I still use a Nokia flip phone, and refuse to get a "smart" phone.
This is exactly how I remember it but with a lot more people
It felt disappointing, I expected much more. I was far and small but it's not the video's fault, it's great, it was just not what I expected
feels like on a concert! ))
i loveeee you destinnnn
hahaha I'm always so happy to see you
Yea I've been there and it's the same with headphones. Just a place full of people taking pictures from a distance of somethig they can see in details on their computer screens in seconds and it would be a lot better, trust me.
I was there two years ago, this is pretty much it. Except when I went, there were more people.
I first saw the Mona Lisa in 2006, when the Motorola Razr was considered the top of the line. Back then people were using actual cameras (a mix of digital and film) to take photos of the Mona Lisa. It was just as packed back then. After seeing it in person I couldn't really understand the big fuss over it. I much preferred seeing Paul Delaroche's The Execution of Lady Jane Grey in London.
Did not expect the room to be so light! also it looks like it's a long-ish gallery with at least one big concrete wall planted in the middle, where the painting hung on, but I always thought it was on one of the side walls? Also love that despite there being a physical barrier, nobody dared approach it. (Or maybe that's just because where the people actually stopped is the ideal distance for taking those photo's?)
There was a second rope barrier set up that all the people were standing against. Why the museum felt the need for a second barrier besides the one they had built, I don't know.
Didn't even see that in the vid. And yeah no clue why that's needed?
I was there in 2004. While the Mona Lisa on the wall and the people gathered around it in a semicircle is the same as it was then, two things stood out to me. 1)It seems the have her on a wall standing within the room. It terribly degrades the works of art on the walls on the sides. I hope this is just a temporary thing and they put her back on a wall at the end of the room. 2) I was there before smartphones. Seeing this video makes me so aware of how important a kind of media/digital competence is. That guy with his back to the painting taking selfies says it all...
The best thing of being there was to look at the worned wall where the security sits. The meaning...
"What I wouldn't give to walk out with that thing on my back..."
I went about 10 years ago and it hasn't changed one bit. Over crowded and noisy . Just to see a small painting 20 feet away. The rest of the museum was way better.
>taking phone pictures of a painting
It's annoying that you can only get so close but I know that they have to be protective of the amount of light it gets and I bet cell phone camera flashes and cameras that use a big light when filming so I'd want to protect it too, but I feel like Destin should have gotten special access to get closer.
I expected the painting to be a little bigger,bit i couldn't actually see it properly because it was really crowded and i was about 8 years old when i went to the museum from the out it was beautiful with the glass pyramid
Worst room in whole of Louvre. The rest is amazing especially the hallways with insanely huge paintings.
while everyone is taking slefies enjoy the rest of the incredible art!
I was about to say what I was thinking about it, but you actually said that at the same time right here at 3:48
I was in Paris about 6 months ago. This was my experience as well. Mostly a bunch of Chinese mainlanders pushing their way to the front so they can get a selfie of the painting. My wife was pushed over by a Chinese lady who just did not give a crap. People kept warning us about French people being rude. Not even close, it was the Chinese tourists that were terrible.
I did not like that everyone was just busy clicking pictures but then I realized that the only reason that I am able to see this painting is because someone recorded it. I guess having a screen making the memories available to others isnt really a bad thing? How is the experience any different.
The picture was okay; I did not feel anything gripping me to admire it. Infact I wanted to turn my head around and look at all the other people as soon as I could.
Wow. What a letdown that would be. Note to self: When visiting the Mona Lisa, bring binoculars.
When I went the room was completely packed all the way to the back. It was such an awful experience. If you don’t know why the Mona Lisa is so extremely popular, I couldn’t imagine how unfulfilling this would be
A bummer that they have the Mona Lisa blocked off so far. Did anyone notice how grungy the walls were to the left & right, where the guards lean on them? Ick!
First I was shocked by the amount of protection and buffer zone they had for it, which slowly turned to slight disappointment... But also, Destin, if you read this, I'd really appreciate links or some way of getting to those other videos on mobile. My good headphones don't work well with my pc and I really want to watch those other videos. Maybe I just haven't figured out a way to do it yet ether way, thanks, I love the stuff so far!
i focused to wall behind the security, why they not clean it up?
It's unfortunate that people can't get closer. My favorite aspect of the painting is how an object such as a it can be so captivating to so many people. Just another interest thing about humans.
is it allowed to bring binocular to see the painting in detail?