Timeline

Scroll to explore the journey of the Mona Lisa from Paris to DC

Though framed as a gesture of cultural goodwill, the Mona Lisa’s American tour also exposed a quiet rivalry within the art world. Washington, D.C. and New York City each wanted to claim the prestige of hosting the world’s most famous painting, mirroring the institutional competition between the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum. Beneath this was an even older tension: the ambition of American cities to challenge Paris’s longstanding status as the center of global culture. In this sense, the tour wasn’t just a loan; it was a stage on which cities, museums, and nations performed their cultural power.