Based on the New York Times article about the Mona Lina being taken down, I would agree that the 16th-century Italian masterpiece be relocated to a place of its own due to the chaotic overcrowding and disappointed visitors. According to the New York Times article, “The overcrowding was so bad, the museum had to shut its doors on several days.” This proves how it’s negatively impacting museum visitors and the employees of the Louvre. By building a separate place for the Mona Lisa and selling tickets with time sloths for groups of 10-15, can allow visitors from all over the world to a better view of the Mona Lina in a well-organized manner. The space can also provide a selfie booth, through which visitors can download their picture as they leave.
Author: Sabiha Begum
Sabiha Begum – How Would You Rebuild A Gothic Church?
Based on the reading and my research, I believe that the French should rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral with the incorporation of modern architecture and technology. After the fire, the Notre Dame is still in danger of collapsing, therefore some parts of the architecture need to be modernized while keeping is Gothic features as much as possible. With the architectural knowledge and technology available these days, the Notre Dame can be rebuilt with better materials that will be able to withstand any other type of casualty in the future.
Sabiha Begum: How evil was Commodus?
The picture of this sculpture is a bust of Roman Emperor Commodus, styled as if he were similar to Hercules. Lucius Aurelius Commodus, born 161 A.D was a Roman emperor who ruled along with his father Marcus Aurelius and after the death of his father in 177 A.D. Based on the reading in Life of Commodus in Lampridius’s biography, at his young age Commodus is portrayed first just as a typical spoiled dishonorable, and cruel and lewd individual. In his biography, he portrayed the first act of his cruelty when his bath was drawn too cool, he ordered the bathkeeper to be cast into the furnace. Following this, there are many examples that prove that Commodus was indeed an evil and unbelievably wicked emperor. According to Historia Augusta, Commodus pretended that he was going to Africa, so that he could get funds for the journey, then spent them on banquets and gaming instead. “He allowed statues of himself to be erected with the accoutrements of Hercules and sacrifices were performed to him as to a god”. He disgraced every class of men in his company and was disgraced in turn by them. For fun, he would do despicable things such as placing a starling bird on a head of one man who had a few white hairs, resembling worms, and caused his head to fester through the continual pecking of the bird’s beak. He would murder many people, just because of the fact that they were handsome, pluck out the eye or cut off the foot of many others. It is also claimed that he often mixed human excrement with the most expensive foods, and he did not refrain others from tasting them.
