The Mona Lisa

For the past 5 semesters "Introductory Art History" has never fit into my schedule. My mom took many art history classes in college and throughly enjoyed them so I was determined to keep trying and make it fit into my schedule somehow. As luck would have it, FUA (my university here in Florence) offered an introductory art history class and I was determined to take it.

Today I attended my first class.

I can't believe I have to wait until next Tuesday.

My teacher, Jeremy Boudreau, who happens to be American, is beyond fabulous at what he does. He absolutely loves art. It intrigues him in a way that he wants and must know everything about each work and why the artist chose that particular subject or medium.

I found it interesting when he asked the class, "when was the first time you remember seeing or hearing about the Mona Lisa?" Easy. Or was it? When was the first time I had seen or heard about the Mona Lisa? There was no answer. I was stumped. I truly had no idea. It was as if I had known this painting my entire life without actually ever being told what it was or who painted it. Yet, somehow, every single student in my class knew exactly what it was, who painted it and where it is located. He continued and said, "it's as if we are born with this image of the Mona Lisa in our brain without ever really knowing it."

Leonardo would be proud.

Simply amazed by what he said, ( I actually could not stop myself from thinking about the question he asked) I was determined to remember the exact day, place and time when I was first exposed to the Mona Lisa but, I fell short and was answerless) the class only got better. We concluded the class with a historic walking tour of Florence where Mr. Boudreau pointed out different structural influences around the city, which will be helpful in our next class.

Tuesday cannot come soon enough.