Mona Lisa’s Smile

The museums of Paris showcase some of the world’s most creative and irreplaceable works of art. They guard most of them with the sort of twine you’d use to string up a badminton net, strung at ankle height about a foot from the wall. The level of trust startles you. You walk up to paintings daubed before Shakespeare ever penned a word, realizing you could easily run your fingers or a jelly donut across them. Your mind screams for bulletproof glass, laser beams, Indiana Jones-type spikes conspicuously tensed on springs to defend the art. Some works, of course, get more protection than others. The Mona Lisa has smiled from behind bulletproof glass since the 1950s. The cake thrown by the wig-wearing man last May was wiped off in minutes. For most paintings, drawings, and statues, however, you could easily reach out and touch. The rarity of patrons destroying masterpieces should restore some faith in humanity.