Louvre Director Shuts Down Mona Lisa Tour Plans

Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez has officially declared that the Mona Lisa will not be moved, ending a month-long debate sparked by French Culture Minister Françoise Nyssen. Nyssen had proposed sending Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece on a national tour to combat cultural segregation, suggesting it could first travel to the Louvre's Lens outpost in northern France. Critics suspected the real goal was to eventually loan the painting to Louvre Abu Dhabi, possibly alongside the Salvator Mundi—the most expensive painting ever sold, purchased by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Christie's New York in November 2017—for the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death in 2019. Martinez cited the painting's fragility: it has left Paris only twice in the last century—to the US in the 1960s (facilitated by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy) and to Japan in 1974. Since 2005, it has been sealed in a climate-controlled, bulletproof glass case on a concrete wall. A 2006 examination revealed a crack in the poplar panel, with risk of paint loss from temperature changes. Moving it would require a custom traveling case, prohibitively expensive insurance, and could damage the work. The Mona Lisa will not even be relocated within the Louvre for the upcoming 2019 Leonardo exhibition, which will feature the Salvator Mundi instead.