The Mona Lisa: What's All the Hype?

A number of years ago I found myself wandering among the halls and great labyrinth of the Louvre. Stuffed in a corner one might find a limestone bust of some forgotten nobleman or great statesman of the past. you might stumble upon some decapitated Greek Adonis with it's arms cut off and it's penis severed. Then, you might come across some morbid delineation of what some long dead artist envisioned Hell might look like after he was dead. At various points throughout the museum are small placards about the size of a postcard. Each one with an image of the world's most overrated painting. There is an arrow placed near each of them informing the visitor that "If you follow me you can see me in all my Venetian glory. They are ubiquitous. A person cannot help but notice them. In fact, as a member of a sub-species of human called "The Herd" I found myself following these signs (with my wife) however, I was in no way in any hurry to get there. There was other art in the Louvre that I found a lot more interesting. Inevitably, however, my wife and I found ourselves drawn into a room where at least 100 people or so were gathered around a roped off section centered around a small painting which was situated behind a protective glass. Was that all? That was my reaction when I first saw it. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. For all the attention that it gets one might think that it covered an entire wall. We stood gawking for a minute or so along with the rest of the herd who were snapping pictures as if their photograph might one day bring them down memory lane. It is funny what some people consider worthy of being saved by a photograph. For instance, I recently came across a photograph of a Dodo bird that I took at the British museum back in 1997. Why? ...A Dodo bird? I can remember what it looks like...why take a photo of it? Perhaps I was a Dodo to even consider it? I guess that it is all in taste. There is something about the Mona Lisa that fascinates people. What it is I cannot say because I can't see it. Perhaps I am too ignorant. I don't know. Perhaps some people enjoy seeing the image of some long dead nobleman's wife...or...Leonardo in drag...who knows...but there it sits waiting for you to cast a glance its way as people have done for the lat 500 years.