‘Mona Lisa’ Gets Her Own Immersive Experience

Two of Paris’s most renowned cultural institutions, the Louvre and the Grand Palais, are teaming up to stage an immersive digital light show in Marseilles inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The exhibition is part of the new Grand Palais immersif initiative, which will bring similar art experiences to venues around the world in a bid to capitalize on the craze for “Immersive Van Gogh” and other animated projections based on famous works from art history.

The line between art and entertainment has become increasingly blurry with the rise of such exhibitions, which can draw huge crowds but have been savaged by some critics.

Nevertheless, the Grand Palais is so committed to the immersive digital experience that the venue will soon have an entire dedicated space for such multimedia exhibitions.

The historic museum complex closed its doors at the start of 2021 for planned renovations , set to be completed in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Currently, it is staging shows in the Grand Palas Éphémere, a €40 million ($46.8 million) temporary building.