While going through the 15th and 16th century paintings from the Netherlands and Germany in the Richelieu wing of the Louvre, I started looking at the many portraits of men and wondered if I could find a painting of a man similar to the Mona Lisa. The problem with most portraits of the period is that the subjects tend to be in a detached, documentary pose and are rarely looking at the viewer. I was about to give up on the idea, but then I came across a self portrait of Albrecht Dürer which struct me as Mona Lisa-like. It was Dürer’s first painted self portrait, done when he was 22 years old and most likely to be sent to his fiancée, Agnes Frey. A marriage had been arranged for Dürer while he was living with his brother in Basel in 1493, and Dürer and Ms. Frey were married upon his return to Nuremberg in 1494. While Dürer’s self portrait predates Mona Lisa by about 10 years, he paints himself in a similar pose and light, and he engages the viewer with his direct eye contact and pleasant countenance. I may find other male Mona Lisa’s, but so far Dürer’s self portrait is the front runner.
After the Louvre we went to the Musée l’Orsay, which is an old train station converted into a museum. Photographs are prohibited in the Orsay, but I managed to get a shot of the inside and the shot through the clock looking at the northern skyline of Paris. One commentator described train stations as being secular cathedrals to modernism with the clocks being their alters. In the evening we went to the Center Pompidou, and looked at the modern art. It’s interesting to go from the Louvre and Orsay’s formal, hands-off settings to the Pompidou’s modern, more interactive environment. You get a nice view of the Paris skyline from the Pompidou and the last photo with the Eiffel Tower in the distance is from the 4th level inside the Pompidou.
Off Center & Not Even 
And again great photos! It reminded me a bit of that book from Dan Brown… Forgot the title… Whoops!
Once again, just fabulous, all the way around!!!!
Thanks, Susan!
Laurie would make a great Mona Lisa–
I love this amazing that you found one that looks like the Mona Lisa! I love all the abstract art you captured here. Looks like you had a fun time exploring! Fantastic escalator! Wonderful shots!
I looked long and hard for a male equivalent to the Mona Lisa.
I know and what I find funny and interesting is that sometimes those dudes look like women. LOL and vice versa! Oh no!
I was looking for was the same quality and style in the painting of a man as of the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa really is a prefect painting, in the pose, style, lighting, expression and so on. I was looking for a painting of a man that had the same qualities, and it really doesn’t exist, but Dürer’s self portrait was what I thought to be the closest as far as having the same qualities as the Mona Lisa.
I love that you thought to do that! It is amazing where your mind and curiosity will take you and what you discover. Do you paint?
No. My wife is the painter. Outside of photography I am more of a designer. I would do sculpture if I did an art other than photography.
Sounds like you have a very talented family which is very inspiring! I wouldn’t know the first thing about sculpting! 😀
Our daughter got her mother’s talents for painting, math and languages.She is also a good mechanic (way better than me), does really well with building projects and great with computers. She’s ended up with the best of me and her mom.
I like that! It’s good when they have both parents talents. I think my girl is a mixture too! I hope she didn’t get my stubbornness! She is artistic but not like I am, she likes to design rooms and things like that! That’s really neat I think your daughter works on car. If I could get mine to do that would be nice!
Amazing photos. I did not make it to the Musée d’Orsay or Centre Pompidou, but I feel as though experiencing the contrast between those and the Louvre makes you appreciate each place more, since they’re so different. Kudos on finding the male version of Mona Lisa, what a great find!
I was familiar with Dürer’s painting from art history. The challenge was finding it among all the paintings in the Louvre. The Louvre is just so large and has so much stuff, that no matter how much you think you’ve seen, you’ve only seen a fraction of what they have. That was the same for the Prado in Madrid, Spain. We lived in Madrid for almost 4 years, and even with visiting the Prado almost every week, often more, we never got through everything. BTW, our daughter was in Madrid last year, and the Prado has a Mona Lisa on display that they have had in their collection for a few hundred years. It was thought to be a very good copy, but after recent testing, they discovered it’s Di Vinci’s paint, and while they speculate most of the work was done by one of Di Vinci’s helpers, he probably had a hand in it. The interesting thing with the Mona Lisa in the Prado is it’s a finished painting. Di Vinci never finished the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
I had no idea, that’s incredible- really makes you think, doesn’t it? There are so many unanswered questions!
Reblogged this on Moorezart.
What an interesting quest Timothy! It’s made me want to go through all my art books to see what I can find! Dürer is one of my favourites and I really like your abstract view of la Tour Eiffel !
Thanks, Jane!
Wow! These photos are wonderful. I have always loved Albrecht’s art. It looks like you had an amazing trip! 🙂 The painting you found is wonderful in comparison to the Mona Lisa.
Thanks!
You’re welcome, Timothy.
Wonderful. Had to go back and look at them all again. Almost lunged forward with the escalators!
Thanks, Simon! Have you ever been on those escalators? They are really hot in the late afternoon sun.
No but I do admire the sense of movement you’ve caught in the picture.
Thanks! If you ever go to Paris, the Center Pompidou is something you must experience. Given that I’ve worked with architectural programmers and architects for years, I don’t think it’s a particularly people friendly building, but it’s a fantastic sculpture, and makes a good space for modern art.
Wow, I hope to one day visit the Louvre, and I love that you challenged yourself with finding that painting, totally something I would do! The first thing I notice about Dürer’s portrait is the feminine features, yet still masculine at the same time. Looks like you and your wife had a wonderful visit!
Hi Tiffany. We had a great time in France in 2013. We were there 5 weeks — two in Aix en Provence and three in Paris. You would love the Louvre and all the other galleries in Paris. We lived in Madrid, Spain for four years, and visited the Prado and other galleries weekly. You need to add the Prado to your list of museums, as well.