Hong Kong scores for a minimalist approach to art appreciation

Four years after being exiled to a small though still pleasant little corner in the depths of the Louvre in Paris, the Mona Lisa has found a permanent home after a journey of half a millennium.

Surrounded by hectares of 16th-century Italian masterpieces in the museum's Salle des Etats, Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda holds her ground with her stamp-sized but cosmic-scaled smile.

The move cost Euro4.8 million ($45.2 million) as the hall had to be properly fitted, including non-reflective, unbreakable glass to protect the 500-year-old painting from climatic changes, camera flashes and wilful damage.

The Mona Lisa's homecoming, however, may soon be eclipsed by the forthcoming opening of the Musee du Quai Branly on the left bank of the Seine under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

The museum, 10 years in the making and with a budget of US$142 million, will house the country's vast collection of artefacts and works related to the arts and civilisations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.

It is probably not far-fetched to say that most French people regard culture as a human right, and that they believe that the incumbent government - of whatever political persuasion - has the obligation to provide access to the arts in the spirit of liberte, fraternite, egalite.