Snoop Dogg Has the Funniest Reaction to Seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
The special NBC Olympic correspondent found his Revolutionary Cap while led through the empty halls of the world's most famous museum.
It was a Night at the Museum for special NBC Olympic correspondent Snoop Dogg, and a history lesson unlike most.
As the 2024 Summer Olympic Games continue in Paris, Snoop was given a private, after-hours tour of the Louvre, home to some of the world’s finest art, as seen in a Thursday, August 1, 2024, promo clip on TikTok by NBC Olympics. The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper was guided through the grandiose empty wings to do some “snooping around,” avoiding the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the museum daily.
Snoop’s first stop? One of the world’s most valuable paintings: Leonardo Da Vinci’s early 1500s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa.
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Snoop finds his twin sister
Against the backdrop of French accordion music, Snoop let viewers in as he gazed upon the oil painting, studying the exhibit from a straight-on point of view.
“I just found out I was Mona Lisa’s twin brother, Tony Lisa,” Snoop joked.
Snoop moved around the protective rail to see if the portrait’s eyes followed, to which the musician said, “She smile real hard when I stand on this side.”
Decked out in his patriotic red, white, and blue to represent the U.S. Teams, Snoop and his male private tour guide walked along the empty halls, marveling at numerous priceless showpieces hanging on the walls.
“Is that somebody’s head getting chopped off?” Snoop pointed in passing.
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Snoop admires other show-stopping pieces
There was much to see in the one-minute-plus video, but the guide emphasized the importance of getting a close-up of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a cherished marble sculpture created during the Hellenistic era.
The sight was perhaps befitting for the Olympic Games since the piece is also called the Niké of Samothrace, named after the ancient Greek goddess of victory. The headless statue was not only the muse for the big-name shoe brand, but the female subject’s wings also reportedly inspired the Nike company’s famous swoosh logo.
“That was made 2000 years ago?” Snoop wondered.
“2,200 years ago,” the tour guide clarified.
“I love this,” as Snoop stood in awe. “This is beautiful.”
The art expert informed Snoop that one of its wings had been “nipped and tucked,” urging the singer to guess which one was original and which wasn’t. Snoop inspected the monument, which stands eminently at the top of the Louvre’s master staircase, and settled that the right wing was only a replica.
“Bravo!” the tour guide remarked. “Bravo.”
A painting of Cupid and Snoop’s revolutionary cap
Snoop and the guide continued through the gallery, passing by one particular painting that caught Snoop’s attention.
“It’s two ladies in the bed,” Snoop commented. “One of them flying away.”
The Frenchman leaned in, hiding his mouth with his hand, and said, “That’s not a lady.”
“That ain’t a lady?”
Upon a closer inspection, Snoop realized the naked, winged subject leaving a woman asleep in the bed was actually a male. In fact, the being was a depiction of Cupid, the Roman god of love.
The painting itself was an 1817 piece of art by famous French painter François-Edouard Picot, representing the second-century story of Cupid and Psyche.
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“Cupid?” Snoop said. “I knew it was somebody I knew.”
Last, Snoop stopped at one of the world’s most famous French pieces, Liberty Leading the People, an 1830 oil painting portraying the July Revolution. By Romantic-era French artist Eugène Delacroix, it depicts a bare-breasted woman waving what is now France’s national flag atop the men who lost their lives during the 1830 revolution. In the backdrop, visitors can see the historic Notre-Dame, a treasured part of Paris, and a centerpiece at the 2024 Summer Games Opening Ceremony.
“The cap that this woman is wearing is called the Revolutionary Cap,” the tour guide explained.
“She got on what I got on right now,” Snoop noted of his blue wrap headpiece.
“You’re wearing your Revolutionary Cap, Snoop Dogg!”
“The revolution will be televised,” said the sports commentator.
The painting specifically shows the woman wearing a phryge, which is the inspiration for the Paris Olympics mascot.
“Rather than an animal, our mascots represent an ideal,” Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet previously said in a statement about the figure. “Since it is familiar to us and appears on our stamps and the pediments of our town halls, it also represents French identity and spirit.”
Viewers will see two different versions of the mascot, one for the Paris Olympics and a second for the Paralympics. The Olympics mascot is described as "the smart one” with a “methodical mind and alluring charm," but his Paralympics counterpart, who has a prosthetic leg, is more lively and "a party animal, spontaneous and a bit hotheaded.”
