How fame makes a masterpiece disappear: an essay on the Mona Lisa's invisibility
Reviewing Philippe Comar's new essay, En attendant Nadeau examines a paradox: the very celebrity that made the Mona Lisa the world's most famous painting is also what keeps viewers from truly seeing it.
The online review En attendant Nadeau has published a piece on a new essay by Philippe Comar devoted to the Mona Lisa, titled "Le chef-d'œuvre invisible." According to the review, Comar argues that the same mechanisms that built the painting's worldwide celebrity are precisely what now make it impossible to actually look at — crowds, reproductions, and the painting's status as an icon have replaced the act of seeing it with the act of recognizing it.
The review describes Comar's approach as combining humor and erudition in examining this paradox through the example of what it calls the most famous painting in the world.
No publisher, length, or release date for the essay is given in the material available, and the review itself has not been read in full by this desk; readers interested in the argument should consult En attendant Nadeau directly.
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