A superstar… … facing a crowd of 132

Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci must have particularly treasured the Mona Lisa, as he never parted with her. She was given star status as soon she arrived in the Louvre… The painting’s special appeal lies in its technical excellence, the sitter’s famous smile, the fantasy background landscape and the sfumato technique that envelops the figure in a misty haze. The Mona Lisa’s special allure has brought her all sorts of unwelcome attention too, with incidents that have only added to her celebrity status. In 1911, for example, an Italian museum worker stole the painting ‘to return it to its homeland’, sparking a furore in the press!

In 1966, this famous and fragile masterpiece was moved to the Louvre’s largest room – the Salle des États – where it is conserved in the best possible conditions, protected inside a temperature and humidity-controlled glass case.

The Wedding Feast at Cana

Paolo Caliari, know as Veronese

While you’re queuing to enjoy your personal glimpse of the Mona Lisa, make sure to admire the painting opposite: The Wedding Feast at Cana. You can’t miss it: at almost 70 m², it’s the biggest painting in the Louvre! Commissioned to decorate the refectory of a monastery in Venice, Veronese had the bold idea of transposing a biblical scene to a contemporary setting – a Venetian banquet. The painting was a great success and other commissions followed. In 1797, it was confiscated by Napoleon’s troops who rolled the huge canvas up and shipped it to Paris.