Now if the Mona Lisa had been damaged…

Each morning I search The New York Times and Wall Street Journal for conservation related news. However, it was not until this morning when I read the July 18, 2017 issue of Hyperallergic that I learned of the damaging flooding in the Louvre, the National Library of France, and the French Ministry of Culture’s main storage facilities caused by extremely heavy rains on July 9th (“ Flooding Damages Three Paintings and Multiple Rooms at the Louvre”). Just over a year ago, the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay suffered damage when heavy rains caused the Seine to overflow. The second flood damaging Parisian museums in two years would seem worthy of a mention in the Times or WSJ. Perhaps with all of the damage to the cultural heritage that has been caused by human action over the past two years, a second ( but limited) natural disaster doesn’t seem that newsworthy. Now if the Mona Lisa had been damaged…