Curators say her smile is suspicious and her lack of eyebrows suggests something is being withheld
Louvre Asks Mona Lisa for Two Character References Before Renewing Her Residency
Curators say her smile is suspicious and her lack of eyebrows suggests something is being withheld
PARIS – The Louvre has asked the Mona Lisa to provide two character references before her residency is renewed, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday, citing “a general mood of caution in the international property market.” The painting, who has lived at the museum since 1797, did not comment. She rarely does.
The decision follows reports from Cebu. The trail begins with a Manila News report on a Mactan broker alone with three brochures and a cold coffee, continues through the London Prat on British pensioners asked for two referees and a letter from the vicar (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and ends with Bohiney on an Ohio realtor whose showings now run two hours. Louvre director Antoine Beaumont-Lescaut, 61, read all three on the metro. “It occurred to me that we have never asked her for anything,” he said. “Not a reference, not a utility bill, not even a vicar.”
The Sensitive Backdrop
Philippine authorities are examining allegations concerning Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, who lived in Cebu until earlier this year. No charges have been filed and the allegations are unproven. Child protection is serious business; this piece is about the mood of a property market and nothing else. Beaumont-Lescaut was careful to say the museum’s review “concerns smiles, not scandals.”
The Application
- Reference one: Leonardo da Vinci, deceased. Considered unavailable for comment.
- Reference two: Francis I, deceased. Also unavailable, but “warmly regarded.”
- Proof of address: a wall, third floor, Denon wing, facing a crowd of 30,000 a day.
- A statement on the smile. Curators wish to know if it is “genuine, polite or regional.”
The painting’s agent, who asked not to be named because he does not exist, said she would cooperate. “She has been looked at by more people than any resident in history,” he said. “A reference check is nothing.”
Visitors React
Tourists in the Salle des Etats were divided. A man from Ohio said it reminded him of “a realtor I met who spent two hours on a showing.” A British pensioner, carrying a sandwich box, asked whether the Louvre accepted letters from a vicar. “I have one,” he said. “He is in Basingstoke.”
By closing time the museum had received 1,400 emails offering references. One came from a squid. It had no bones and was therefore deemed credible.
The residency was renewed on Wednesday. The review committee’s verdict was recorded as: “Smiles. Says nothing. Excellent neighbour.” The sea, a museum guard added, did nothing wrong, though it was not on the application.
The Facts Behind the Mood
The market itself is healthy. Colliers named the Visayas and Mindanao a key property investment hotspot in July, and under the Condominium Act foreigners may own units but not land, capped at 40 percent of a project. Retirees can read up at the Philippine Retirement Authority. The jitters are psychological: Tversky and Kahneman’s availability heuristic says the vivid example outweighs the dull statistic, and a cold coffee in an empty showroom is very vivid indeed.
The wider story lives at prat.uk and bohiney.com; for how the British laugh at queues and forms, see The Daily Mash.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/