In Paris, I went to the Musée du Louvre, which I enjoyed very much, despite not knowing or caring much about European art. If you’re under 26 years old, you can visit the Louvre on Friday nights for free.

I guess I looked at 3% of the museum items in any sort of detail; the place is huge. After wandering through the sculptures, large format Italian works, Middle Eastern treasures, I finally made my way to La Gioconda or the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I was incensed by the people taking photos of the painting, despite a sign clearly stating that no cameras were allowed.

“Hey, loser! No cameras,” I wanted to say. “Idiot! The flash will reflect off the glass. Buy a postcard, it’ll turn out better.” Bloody tourists.

Anyway, it’s a nice painting, supposedly the epitome of portrait paintings. Is it the best painting at the Louvre? Does it deserve to occupy pride of place at the most famous gallery in the world?

I dunno… it looks a little underexposed to me 🙂

I preferred the large format painting The Wedding at Cana by Veronese. It was right in front of the Mona Lisa so Damjan and I got to enjoy it in peace while the crowd fought to see da Vinci’s work.

I love the painting because it tells a whole story in one picture. It’s very big so you can see each person’s expression as it dawns on them that some fellow named Jesus has performed a miracle. There are more than 130 figures in the picture, so that’s a lot of painting to look at.

The painting tells the story of the first of seven miracles by Jesus, according to the Gospel of John. From the white visitor’s cards at the Louvre, I read the relevant excerpt from the gospel story.

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration. At a certain point the wine ran out, and Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” Jesus replied, “Woman, how does this concern of yours involve me? My hour has not yet come.”

John 2:1-4

After which, Jesus’s mum tells the waiters to “Do whatever he tells you”. Jesus gets them to fill six jugs with water and give them to the head waiter to taste. The head waiter does so and is a bit confused that they still have really good wine. Where did the wine come from? Why did we leave the best wine to last? We usually serve it first! Hence, the confused expressions on the people in Veronese’s painting.

Anyway, I thought it was funny because the conversation between Mary and Jesus sounded like:

“Jesus, we’ve run out of wine.”
“So?”
“Come on, do that thing. You know, the water into wine thing. I know you can do it.”
“Mum! Not now! I’m not ready.”
“Hush, stop fussing. Just do it.”

Does this sound familiar? Maybe to all of you with Asian parents out there?

“Joan, play the piano! Auntie wants to hear!”
“Mum! Not now!”
“Hush, stop fussing. Just play an exam piece.”
“Stop embarrassing me!”
“Everyone! Joan’s going to play the piano now!”

Hehe… No doubt, someone with a deeper understanding of John 2:1-11 can provide me a more meaningful and accurate interpretation of the passage.

Edit: I found an awesome tool. BibleGateway.com provides bible passages in a variety of versions.

The Contemporary English Version says, “Jesus replied, ‘Mother, my time hasn’t yet come: You must not tell me what to do.’ “

The New King James Version says, “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ “

The Worldwide English Version says, “Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you telling me about it? It is not yet the time for me to do something.’ “