To Leo or Not to Leo

  So Leonardo Da Vinci. Genius, lazy, crazy, or over rated? Hard to say really. One thing is for sure, very few painters are as well recognized as he is. Some of his works, one in particular, the Mona Lisa are so famous that people flock in droves to museums to see just them, sometimes by passing just as or perhaps more important works. This begs the question why then has a this man, this artist so captivated so many. 

The first recollection I have of Leonardo Da Vinci and his work was at a very early age. I must have been five or so the first time my mother took me to the Louvre in Paris. The one thing I can certainly remember is that as we neared the Mona Lisa, there seemed to be more and more people. Once you got to the painting you could hardly see the damned thing from all the people standing arround.

What is scary, some thirty years later, on my last trip to the Louvre, Nothing changed. Sure my husband wanted to see the painting, something about  never having seen such an important piece. Again, we walked through the vast galleries of the Louvre, but he closer you got to the location of Mona, the more congested it got.

It’s a shame really. I think what upsets me about it all is not that people are so interested in one painting, but that they all seem, without reservation, bypass so many other great works. The Louvre is one of the greatest collections of art in the world. It spans Centuries of human achievement in art. To add insult to injury the louvre is but one of many superb art museums in Paris (the Pompidou and the  Musée d'Orsay are my faves)

I guess maybe I am the type of guy who is not much into canons of anything.  Sure the Mona Lisa is a nice painting, but it is one of many works of art that tell a story about the development of art and culture, and one how we view it. I often feel the same way about theatre (which is my other field of study). Sure Shakespeare can be entertaining, but to some people it is the end all and be all of theatre. Some will argue that he was the most prolific and popular playwright of his time. Well if that is how we judge great past works, then the movie franchises Transformers and Twilight will be held to be the high art of the early 21st Century? I hope not.

Back to Leo. I will give him the fact that he is quite the drafts man. As a artist, I wish my drawings were quite as detailed. Like me Leonardo had many interests, and seems hard a hard time focusing just on one. Was he the best artist ever? That is debatable, but one this is sure, if you love art, spend more time looking at everything the museum you are in has to offer, you might discover pieces you like more than those you are told you are supposed to like, and bypass all others to see.