The southern French city of Marseille is hosting an immersive entirely digital exhibition that gives enthusiasts the chance to explore the world of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and unravel her mysteries.
In the 600m2 hall of the Palais de la Bourse, visitors will take a journey through six stages that allows them to explore different aspects of the world-known masterpiece, which is too fragile to be transferred from its safe display zone at the Louvre.
The exhibition is "an opportunity to approach the painting, to discover all the details", Vincent Delieuvin, chief curator of 16th-century Italian painting at the Louvre Museum, told AFP.
Depicting Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy fabric merchant, the Italian renaissance master started painting the Mona Lisa in 1500. “It was a real challenge for Leonardo da Vinci,” who “really wanted to create a masterpiece,” said Delieuvin. “For Leonardo da Vinci's contemporaries, it was the first painting where physical and psychological life was represented," he added.
The curators of this event wanted this experience to be “authentic, sensitive, and meaningful,” said director general of the Grand Palais Immersif, Roei Amit who co-curated this immersive exhibition with the Louvre Museum.
“Why this painting is the world’s most famous artwork? And why it is currently the star of Instagram?” he asked while passing his hand on a large cover surrounding the exhibition area composed of four sections. This 70×6 meters space enables visitors to explore ‘this great digital, immersive artistic demonstration,” and interact with it using their hands.
Running until August 21, the exhibition includes videos in each of the six stages, telling the story of the Mona Lisa, featuring details about how it was painted, and how it was stolen in 1911.
