Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", the most famous portrait in the world, may get its own hall in the Louvre, the director of the museum said.
A suitable move would give the visitors, many of whom visit the Louvre just for the emblematic painting, a better experience, Laurence de Carre told France Inter television. "It's always disappointing when you don't give visitors the best possible welcome and that's the case with the Mona Lisa," she said. "Today, a better solution seems necessary to me," she said, adding that the Louvre is in contact with the culture ministry about potential solutions.
The Louvre, the most popular museum in the world, welcomed nearly 9 million visitors in 2023. De Carre said that 80 percent of them, or 20,000 people a day, often take selfies in front of the painting.
The Mona Lisa currently hangs in the Louvre's Salle des Etats (Hall of State), the museum's largest, in a protective glass case, but Da Vinci's masterpiece isn't just there. It is accompanied by works of Venetian masters from the 16th century, and on the other side of the room hangs the largest painting of the Louvre, "The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese". /BGNES
