Experiences Around Europe

Being a freshly baked art historian, no surprise, I decided to visit the Louvre. Even if it is a cliche destination and a check mark in every tourist‘s map, I had a naively sincere wish to get into contact with the artworks that I used to see only in books or on the internet.

Before the big event, I even took some tips from museum goers: make short breaks, have water and snacks, plan carefully and see just the objects you really want, as there is no time to dedicate your attention to every piece. These tips are great, unfortunately, there are too many people hoping to apply them.

Once you enter the building you feel like at a rock concert or a really successful shopping spree. While I am a fan of both, that day my choice was different. Luckily, the first room I entered was not that crowded, while I was taking the look at the Greek and Roman sculptures only a few bums of strangers encountered my own.

But moving forward the halls the situation got more and more intense. People were all around me, and I could not see neither artworks nor my friends with whom I went there. Everyone tried to imitate athletes or warriors, repeat the moves and poses in the same challenging way, just holding an iPhone or other technological gadget instead of the spear or shield.

Slightly irritated and doubting about the democratization of culture, I passed through more halls: Delacroix, Vermeer, Gericault, all the masters were spinning around, as I could not really concentrate and remain still, because my body was moved against my will by overly energetic art lovers.

However, gathering the last pieces of patience, I managed to see the Mona Lisa, who was disturbed by the light of flashing cameras. Suddenly one woman decided to ask a profound question before capturing a masterpiece, sadly, she just wondered: „who painted Mona Lisa“?

I had quite mixed feelings, especially disappointed to see that high culture can lose its height very easily, and be converted into bland and colorless „must see“.

Confused and tired I sat on the bench and had to admit that this time, knowing the city through its art collections was not the best decision. But calmed myself remembering Sam Ewing‘s words, that only „the average tourist wants to go to places where there are no tourists.“