The Mona Lisa all to yourself in virtually empty Louvre

IF YOU’VE ever tried to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, then you will know that between the crowds of people taking photos and the bulletproof glass protecting the masterpiece, you’re never going to get too close.

But the museum’s blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci exhibition will change all that, offering each ticket holder the chance to get within touching distance of the artwork – in an empty gallery. But there is a catch.

The unrivalled access will be delivered via a virtual reality (VR) headset where the crowds magically evaporate and the user will “step behind the glass to access the intriguing portrait up close in an entirely new, transformative way”, a spokesman for the Louvre said.

Entitled Mona Lisa: Behind The Glass, it is the Louvre’s first VR experience and is being billed as “an intimate look at a painting which has been the subject of fascination and intrigue for generations”.

The real Mona Lisa is not being included in the exhibition and there is still no announcement on whether the Salvator Mundi will be included in the show. It became the world’s most expensive painting when it sold for $450million (£360million) in 2017, but a question mark hangs over whether it is genuine.

It is said that Louvre curators wish to label it as “from the workshop” of Leonardo, which would slash its value for its new owner, said to be Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death opens in Paris on Oct 24.