Mona Lisa’s Smile

In 1981 I was living in London. During an extended school break, a friend and I decided to wander around Europe for a month. We dusted off our backpacks, bought Eurail passes, and prepared to headed out.

But just as we were about to leave, we realized our trip would mean missing another friend's birthday. She had planned a separate European vacation. So at the last minute, we concocted a scheme to briefly blend our itineraries, agreeing to meet at 3:00 p.m. on April 9th (her birthday), in front of the Louvre's most famous painting – the Mona Lisa. 

It was the first and only time I have stood before this enduring work of art. Yesterday, I read for the first and only time since its 1793 inception, a woman will now head the Louvre. 

Another reason for Mona Lisa to smile.

"The Mona Lisa, to me, is the greatest emotional painting ever done. The way the smile flickers makes it a work of both art and science, because Leonardo understood optics, and the muscles of the lips, and how light strikes the eye - all of it goes into making Mona Lisa's smile mysterious and elusive." – Walter Isaacson