The Mona Lisa vs. the iPhone

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John Lennon took flak for saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. The problem was, that claim was hard to measure. But soon we can find out which is more popular: the iPhone or the Mona Lisa?

According to French websites, Apple is is planning to build a new store near the Louvre museum, where the painting of Mona Lisa lives, in Paris.

Before people start saying, ‘Mon Dieu,’ and shaking their heads about the crassness of combining commerce and masterpieces as they have at gadget blog Gizmodo, the Apple store is going to be in the mall next to the museum. The company received initial government approval to build a two-story retail site, its first in France, under the pyramid at the museum’s entrance in Napoleon’s courtyard.

The juxtaposition might have appealed to the Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance Man, who was artist, inventor, engineer, you name it.

Still, it will be interesting to see: Which artifact draws the bigger crowd?

For his part, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take the stage Monday in San Francisco to announce a new and improved iPhone (most people expect a souped-up version that runs on a faster data network) in hopes of boosting sales. Jobs and company hope that one day the iPhone will be ubiquitous.

If that happens, the Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile has nothing to worry about. People will still have to come to see her, and they’ll snap her photo with their iPhones.

-- Michelle Quinn

Painting: Mona Lisa. Credit: Leonardo da Vinci