Mona Lisa took up residence on the Canebière in Marseille. Not a pale copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece exhibited in the Louvre, and not even the original, which almost never leaves the “Salle des Etats” of the Parisian museum. But a 100% digital exhibition at the Palais de la Bourse, dedicated to “the most Instagrammed painting in the world” as summarized by Roei Amit, director of Grand Palais Immersif, already at work on exhibitions Pompeii and SEternal itites. “We are continuing to experiment with new exhibition formats, where the public is also an actor in its own visit”, he explains.
For the Louvre, which had already dabbled in digital in 2019 with the virtual reality experience Face to face with the Mona Lisa, this meeting in Marseille is an opportunity to tell “how an old lady who is 503 years old is still relevant today”. “One might think that this immersive exhibition is an easy solution, guaranteed success”, demines, magnanimously, Vincent Delieuvin, chief curator of 16th century Italian painting at the Louvre Museum, a function he sums up between “doctor and husband” from The Mona Lisa.
“From its flight, the Mona Lisa becomes a popular image. »
“But this exhibition is also a challenge,” he continues. The Mona Lisa is experiencing a very paradoxical situation. It is both the most celebrated painting in the world and perhaps the least viewed. I’m struck by how often people immediately turn their backs on him to take a selfie. Scientific advisor to the exhibition, Vincent Delieuvin thus provided the material to tell the extraordinary destiny of this painting in six key episodes. “It was Giorgio Vasari, the first art historian, who created the myth of the Mona Lisa by writing how much it is a major creation of the Renaissance, which recreates the impression of life, he explains. But it was from its flight in 1911 that the Mona Lisa became a popular image. »
As soon as you enter the exhibition, the image of an infinite zoom on the Mona Lisa invites you to pass to the other side of the mirror. You then enter a vast space of 600 meters, laid out in the great hall of the Palais de la Bourse, where a long and high panorama scrolls along the walls with different landscapes of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, which changes as you approach. In the middle, modules of different sizes. Large curved screens three meters high, where thematic films are projected in a loop, including one on the “medical visit” that she follows each year. And interactive screens, some at children’s height, to continue on the subject in game mode. All this to a background sound that knows how to stay at a good level. The direction of the journey is not always clear, the only downside perhaps.
“Getting out of the immersive show”
“The challenge is to get out of the immersive show, and to have an immersive scientific exhibition, in the sense that we are going to disseminate knowledge, advances Sylvain Roca, who designed the scenography. The idea is that people are first in emotion, that they are attracted by the subject as a kind of teaser, then, interested, that they go to seek information. »
The digital production and operation of the exhibition have been entrusted to Artisans d’idées, a company based in Marseille, whose meeting contributed to the choice of the city to host this first exhibition, which will then travel to France and abroad. ‘International. The choice of location quickly fell on the Palais de la Bourse, a place that is not a museum, and which is both central and quite prestigious for La Joconde. “We hope for 20,000 visitors per month,” confides Youenn Leguenn, the director of Artisans d’idées, which relies in particular on the opening hours to attract a large audience. A public who, ideally, will look at the Mona Lisa with new eyes during a future visit to the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.
The exhibition takes place from March 10 to August 21, 2022 at the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille, with late openings until 10 p.m. on Fridays. Prices: €14.50, €11 for those under 18 and job seekers and €5 for RSA and ASS beneficiaries. Free for children 6 and under.