From today, the Louvre will have two paintings of the Mona Lisa, one smiling and the other crying. The new version of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece (the "Moaner Lisa"?) is part of a witty tribute to the most famous painting in the world by a celebrated Franco-Chinese artist, Yan Pei-Ming.
Some of the many parodies of the Mona Lisa, such as Marcel Duchamp's version with a moustache and goatee beard, have become almost as famous as the original. But this will be the first time that a Mona Lisa pastiche has been hung in the Louvre, only a few steps from the Joconde herself. The new version of the 16th-century Florentine noblewoman is painted in sombre, aetherial grey. She has tears streaming down her face but preserves Da Vinci's enigmatic smile. The crying Joconde is part of a five-painting set.
