COVID-19 pandemic, with its global shutdown, has affected several economies around the world, along with numerous businesses, resulting in either furloughing their employees or cutting their remuneration by a certain percentage.
One country that is equally affected by this pandemic is France, with over 143,000 cases of the novel coronavirus. However, a CEO from the French nation has suggested selling the iconic Mona Lisa to recover from the financial crisis
Reported first by the Independent, this is according to Stephane Distinguin, founder of Fabernovel, in a conversation with magazine Usbek and Rica. He said in a statement, ¡°Day after day, we list the billions engulfed in this slump like children counting the fall of stone into a well to measure its depth. We are still counting, and this crisis seems unfathomable.¡±
He gave the analogy of selling family jewels in times of crisis, stating, ¡°A painting is easy to move and therefore to hand over. And we have a lot of paintings. In 2020, we have to get the money where it is. So sell family jewellery. The price is the crux of the matter and the main subject of controversy. The price has to be insane for the operation to make sense. I estimate that it would take no less than €50billion (?44.7 billion) to acquire the Mona Lisa. I was told that my estimate was very overvalued, even far-fetched, but each time without real arguments.¡±
He added, ¡°As an entrepreneur and a taxpayer, I know that these billions are not invented and that they will necessarily cost us. An obvious reflex is to sell off a valuable asset at the highest price possible, but one that is the least critical as possible to our future.¡±
He suggested the idea of tokenising the Mona Lisa, like a subscription service, which would allow the painting to be exchanged between the nations for a particular time-frame while France still retaining the ownership.?
He explained, ¡°Legally and technically, this solution would have many advantages: it would allow France and the Louvre to keep control of the painting. One can even imagine that this ploy would garner the assent of the great Leonardo da Vinci, he who painted but also mastered all the sciences and technologies of his time.¡±