Treasures of the Louvre Page #2

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Renaissance art, Vincent Delieuvin.

La probleme que j'ai avec

La Joconde, c'est...

TRANSLATION:
'The problem I have got

with the Mona Lisa

'is that she is such

a big media star.'

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

TRANSLATION:
'What you have to do is

'to try and forget that she

is such a big star

'and really get into the painting.

'Get up close

and love it for what it is,

'and she definitely invites us

to love her.

'It's such an incredible ability

of the painter to portray that

'most difficult and subtle of human

expressions, the smile.

'There are 1,000 ways of interpreting

a smile, and that was the genius

'of Leonardo, to be able to capture

'such a subtle and rich human

expression.

'She is such a flirt.

Of course she's a huge flirt.

'The French like that sort of thing,

'but hey, you're not completely

untouched by her, are you?'

# Mona Liiiii-saaaa. #

What else is there left to

say about this painting?

Only that in the 16th century,

La Joconde, as it's known

in France, was something quite

new in Western art.

TRANSLATION:
'The idea of creating a

sense of contact between the viewer

'and the subject had never

been done before.

'Or the open posture with her hands

turned towards us.

'She's greeting us as if we were

in her palace, in her room, even.

'It's even smiling at us.

'That technique of drawing the viewer

directly into the painting

'was hugely innovative.

'Was all this a new departure for

Western art? Absolutely.'

'How many politicians' portraits have

you seen in the style of La Joconde?

'Everyone uses Leonardo's style,

from the framing to

'the posture, to the direct approach

of the subject to the audience.'

So how influential was this approach

to portraiture at the time?

Well, let's go back

to the portrait of Francois.

Had its creator, Jean Clouet,

seen the Mona Lisa?

We don't actually know. But Francois

does look us straight in the eye.

His body is turned

towards the viewer

and his hands face the same way

as da Vinci's Florentine lady.

And as with her, we are drawn

towards the personality of the King.

Francois was not only a patron of

the arts but a builder of palaces.

He'd spent some time in Italy

and he wanted to emulate the

style of the Renaissance palazzi.

So the medieval tower was

pulled down.

Moats were filled in and a

courtyard built, the Cour Carree,

overlooked by this imposing

and ornamented facade.

And within, the King demanded

a makeover of gloomy

royal apartments.

This is the Salle des Caryatides.

I think it's a place that best

captures the spirit

and feeling

of the Renaissance Louvre.

It's a vision of science

and nature in harmony,

and it signals the beginning

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