Mona Lisa: beyond the glass. The Mona Lisa with augmented reality at the louvre

We have already discussed how art and technology are two worlds that are coming together more and more frequently, with new ways for people to observe works of art from different perspectives.

Robots are created with the ability to create works of art thanks to artificial intelligence such as Ai-Da (read the article here) and augmented reality is used to change viewpoints, to enter into celebrated and historic works of art. This is the case of the exhibition called Mona Lisa: Beyond the glass, at the Louvre in Paris from 24 October to 20 April 2020. There is much anticipation surrounding this long-awaited event which is central to the year-long celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of the genius Leonardo da Vinci, which has been widely celebrated in Italy with numerous events that have been mentioned here.

Mona Lisa Beyond the glass Paris celebrates Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass is the first ever virtual reality experience to be held at the Louvre and it’s dedicated to the most famous work of art by Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa. So what is it?

Fruit of a collaboration between the Paris museum and HTC VIVE Arts, Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass will give thousands of visitors the opportunity to interact with the painting by Leonardo da Vinci within a virtual space that’s recreated thanks to an optical visor. People can literally move, look around and observe (through the visor) their surroundings, with the sensation of really being in the spot where the Mona Lisa was painted.

The experience is a complete one, which goes beyond the simple observation of the painting. It can in fact be defined as a kind of creative virtual reality, capable of providing visitors with detailed and exclusive information about the work, explanations of the techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci and more details of the real woman behind the image in the painting.

And there’s more. The Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass experience will also be available in a home version. Thanks to a digital subscription service, the public will be able to go inside the Louvre right from their own homes, and admire not just the Mona Lisa but many other parts of the most visited museum in Paris where other works by Leonardo da Vinci are also kept.

Dominique de Font-Réaulx, director of the Interpretation and Cultural Programming Department stated:

Dominique de Font-Réaulx, director of the Interpretation and Cultural Programming Department stated:

On the occasion of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition and for the first time, the Louvre is pleased to present a virtual reality experience, in collaboration with HTC VIVE Arts. Visitors will have the opportunity of an immersive experience within an extraordinary masterpiece. Thanks to this collaboration, visitors can meet and get to know the Mona Lisa better, beyond all of the myths and legends that have accompanied her for over 500 years.

An unmissable exhibition, explained to perfection in this video by HTC VIVE Arts!

What do you think about this evolution of art through augmented reality? Will you be going to the Louvre to dive into the Mona Lisa: Beyond the glass experience?

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