Small-town American girls meet the Mona Lisa

[frogmarch]

My granddaughter (pointing with her mouth open) and her friend were quite taken by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa when they saw the painting at the Louvre on a recent class trip. (They’re taking a college semester in London.)



My granddaughter told me that she wasn’t horrified, but rather, overcome with emotion. She said that seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time ever was one of the most exciting moments of her life, and that she’ll never forget it. Her enthusiasm for life is endearing, and I love her lots and lots.

Oh, to be young and full of wonderment again.

[dana_b]

1. yeah - she does look scared!!

it's great.

Her friend - the one with her hands on her face - looks like my niece.

[frogmarch]

7. I don't know her friend's name. Is your

niece in England now? If so, maybe it's she!

[dana_b]

14. nope

she's in San Luis Obispo with her family.

[frogmarch]

15. Still, it's interesting that

they resemble each other.

[Yavin4]

2. How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm

After they've seen Paris?

If more Americans traveled abroad, our nation would greatly improve.

[frogmarch]

8. I think so too. Lots of

xenophobia here.

We were all worried she'd be homesick right away, but she's been for gone more than three months and is still as happy as a lark. She loves London and even travels here and there alone on the Tube. :-O

[lunatica]

3. That's how I felt when I met my first Van Gogh and Gauguin paintings in person

No matter how good the photos or how glossy the book there is nothing compared to seeing art in person.

[frogmarch]

10. I am sure you're right about that. Seeing works of art

that you've only heard or read about, or seen photos of, would be thrilling. I am trying to think of any similar experiences I've had.

[Lionel Mandrake]

16. For one thing, the colors in a photograph are never quite right...n/t

[Brother Buzz]

4. You sure they didn't make a short side trip to Oslo, Norway?

[frogmarch]

9. haha!

I'm going to send that to her! Perfect.

[nolabear]

5. She looks like she suffers from Stendahl Syndrome.

It's real. Strong emotional reaction to a great work of art, inc. heart palpitations, dizziness, confusion, and occasional fainting.

The first time I saw the Starry Night at MoMA I burst into tears. The guard told me it happens all the time.

[frogmarch]

6. I don't think she does. I think she's

just experiencing a lot of "first time" thrills from being abroad and seeing places and things she'd only read about, and that all of this has super-charged her emotions.

Here she is looking normal:

How touching you wept at seeing the Starry Night painting. I can understand this reaction to beauty, and I think I would have wept too.

[HopeHoops]

11. Are you sure she wasn't looking at The Statue of David?

[frogmarch]

12. LOL

Well, she said she was looking at the Mona Lisa. That's all I can tell you.

[HopeHoops]

13. Hmm. Tough call there. I'll vote "David" on that one.