The Louvre is Bringing The Mona Lisa to Life Soon in a New VR Experience

Housed in Paris’ Lovure Museum, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is almost always surrounded by throngs of tourists, desperate for a glimpse and maybe a photo or two of the 16th century painting. Now, HTC Vive Arts and the Louvre are opening a virtual reality experience that centers on the story of the painting and decidedly takes you well beyond the glass case housing the iconic work.

 Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass, the VR experience is the first of its kind presented at the Louvre, and will be on display at the museum’s special exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci, commemorating the 500th anniversary of his death.

The seven-minute experience will be available from October 24th, 2019 to February 24th, 2020 at the museum’s Hall Napoléon, offered to the public via 11 headset stations, The New York Times maintains.

Image courtesy HTC Vive Arts

HTC says in a blog post that Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass includes new scientific research, and highlights “details invisible to the naked eye, as well as providing insight into the techniques da Vinci used, and the identity of his sitter.”

An extended version of the VR experience will launch on October 24th, coming to Viveport and “other online platforms,” HTC says, which includes support for Vive, Vive Pro, Vive Cosmos, and Oculus Rift.

The experience was developed by Emissive in collaboration with the Louvre, and is supported by HTC Vive Arts, the multi-million dollar art initiative that aims to support content, creators and institutions that want to use VR to bring people closer to art of all forms.

 

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The Louvre Offers New VR Experience Featuring The Mona Lisa

Visiting the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris can be a dreary, crowded experience. The museum, however, will soon offer an alternative way to experience the portrait through VR with the support of HTC VIVE Arts.

The VR experience, titled Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass, will last around 7 minutes and be offered as part of a larger upcoming exhibition at the Louvre focusing entirely on Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibition, along with the VR experience, coincides with the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death and will run from October 24 to Feb 24, 2020. It also requires a reservation ahead of time.

The experience offers a way for more people to experience the work despite ever-present crowds when visiting the portrait in person. If you’ve ever been to the Louvre, you’ll understand that due to the sheer number of people and small size of the portrait, it can often feel underwhelming and, to some, not worth the effort to see the Mona Lisa in person.

mona lisa

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass reveals details invisible to the naked eye, as well as providing insight into the techniques da Vinci used, and the identity of his sitter,” according to HTC VIVE Arts. Beyond the Glass will start in the same, cramped portrait room that hosts the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, but the crowds will soon fade away leaving you alone with the portrait. You’ll also experience the portrait in a variety of different settings, including witnessing a version of the subject herself sitting down for the portrait.

There will be 15 headset stations present at the exhibition in the Louvre, but the experience should also be available for VR users at home through VIVEPORT and “other platforms“, which have yet to be detailed. The home version of the experience is longer and features a different opening.

Ticket to the experience are €17 and available for reservation on the Louvre’s site.

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HTC Vive Creates The Louvre’s First VR Experience Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass

2019 is the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci and to commemorate his artistic career, the Louvre Museum will be hosting a retrospective of his work. As part of the exhibition, the museum has collaborated with HTC Vive Arts on a virtual reality (VR) experiences for visitors called Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass.

Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass, Courtesy Emissive and HTC Vive Arts (2)

A first for the museum, the VR experience will bring to life the story of the Mona Lisa, da Vinci’s most famous masterpiece.  Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass will allow visitors to get closer to the painting than ever before – virtually of course – being able to discover details hidden to the naked eye.

They’ll learn about new scientific research which has uncovered techniques that the artist used to create the masterpiece as well as further information on the identity of the sitter. One of the most iconic works of art, participants will be able to enjoy an intimate look at a painting which is central to the new exhibition.

“On the occasion of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition and for the very first time, the Musée du Louvre is delighted to present a virtual reality experience, in partnership with HTC Vive Arts,” said Dominique de Font-Réaulx, Director of Mediation and Cultural programming at the Louvre in a statement. “The public will be able to discover an immersive experience of an extraordinary masterpiece. This collaboration will allow visitors to meet and learn more about the Mona Lisa herself, beyond the myths and legends that have accompanied her for more than 500 years.”

Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass, Courtesy Emissive and HTC Vive Arts (1)

“We are honoured to be able to work closely with the Louvre to present their first VR experience on an HTC Vive headset as part of this monumental exhibition,” said Victoria Chang, Director of VIVE Arts at HTC. “Through this new experience, global audiences will be able to access the Mona Lisa in virtual space, seeing the work in detail from anywhere in the world. Allowing visitors who may not be able to visit the exhibition in person to access this remarkable masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci through our home version will give unprecedented access to da Vinci’s most celebrated painting.”

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass helps to pay tribute to an artist who constantly embraced innovation throughout his career. The da Vinci exhibition will open to the public on 24th October 2019. If you can’t make it to the museum, Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass will also be made available on Viveport and other VR platforms in the near future. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.