HAVE you ever visited the Louvre, back when Anglo-French relations allowed such things, and found yourself in the gallery where the Old Masters are displayed?
There you will discover a particularly well executed sketch by da Vinci, which goes by the name of the Mona Lisa. As this is a rather famous little etching, we may as well dispense with formalities and call her Mona. What art lovers usually do when visiting the Louvre is check out Mona’s enigmatic smile for a couple of minutes, then move on to glance at other paintings. (It’s the Louvre. They’ve got one or two.)