In the 600 m2 hall of the Palais de la Bourse, better known for housing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a stroll in six stages allows you to explore different aspects of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece which, too fragile , cannot leave his secure showcase at the Louvre.
The exhibition is "an opportunity to approach the painting, to discover all the details", reports to AFP Vincent Delieuvin, chief curator of 16th century Italian painting at the Louvre museum.
Begun in Florence around 1500, the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a wealthy cloth merchant, "which was initially a simple commission, was to become a real challenge for Leonardo da Vinci" who "really wanted to make a chef- of painting", he recalls.
A giant screen with the portrait of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille, March 8, 2022 Nicolas TUCAT AFP
It is an experience "that we wanted to be original, sensitive and also meaningful", explains Roei Amit, general manager of the Grand Palais Immersive, which co-produces the exhibition with Le Louvre.
But "why is this painting the best known in the world, why has it become Instagram's number one star today?", he wonders, passing his hand over the gigantic "skin-landscape" that covers the walls surrounding the exhibition space: formed from four landscapes by Leonardo da Vinci, this "interactive digital work of art" 70 m long by 6 m high reacts, as if modified by the touch of visitors .
From the origins of the Mona Lisa myth to her posterity, including the theft of which the painting was the victim in 1911 --and which greatly contributed to its future notoriety--, each stage of the work's journey is the subject of a film projected in large format.
A giant screen with the portrait of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille, March 8, 2022 Nicolas TUCAT AFP
This visual narration is accompanied by smaller interactive screens, intended to extend the exploration of the theme addressed: they "allow the public to really be an actor in their visit, to learn, to play, to discover", explains Roei Friend.
"It speaks to people who think the Mona Lisa is a t-shirt" but also to others looking for detailed information on the history of the painting because the exhibition "is very rich" and "really sheds light rarely seen," he said.
"For Leonardo da Vinci's contemporaries, it was the first painting where physical and psychological life was represented", specifies Mr. Delieuvin.
A life to which the digital medium, developed by the Marseille-based company Artisans d'idées, breathes new life.
© 2022 AFP