Monu Lisu don't take photos anymore!

PARIS - Visitors to the Paris Louvre Museum can no longer photograph its most famous exhibit - Leonardo's painting Mona Lisa - nor some other well-known works. The museum's management has prohibited photography and filming in its most frequented areas. They justified this by the need to ensure smoother tours. At the same time, they announced that the ban will gradually be extended to all exhibition halls.
Since last month, photography and filming have been banned in the recently restored Apollo Gallery, in the Denon wing where Italian, Spanish, and French paintings are concentrated, including the Mona Lisa, and in the space where the famous Winged Victory of Samothrace is displayed.
The museum's management argues that visitors who take photographs and film, whose numbers have surged with the advent of digital cameras, hinder the smooth viewing experience for others. They also point out the frequent use of flash, which can damage the exhibited paintings.
To ensure compliance with the ban, supervision in the specified areas has been increased. The museum has not gone so far as to establish a camera storage system and does not intend to confiscate cameras from those caught violating the ban.
An average of 30,000 people visit the Louvre daily, and it is regularly crowded in front of its most famous exhibits, especially the Mona Lisa. Although she was recently moved to the large Hall of the States, which provides her with more dignified conditions, the crowd in front of her remains the same.
The ban has sparked angry reactions from some photography enthusiasts, who accuse the museum's management of being primarily concerned with not losing sales of photographs and other video materials in museum shops. Even in the press, there has been a timid suggestion that the issue could have been addressed differently, such as by creating a special space for photographers near the Mona Lisa.