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MONA LISA
Four prints of Leonardo de Vinci’s
celebrated painting are hung in the house
and the image is reproduced repeatedly
in the yard. The painting only gained its
status as the most well-known artwork
in the world in the 20th century. It first
received massive media attention after
an Italian carpenter, Vincenzo Peruggia,
stole it from the Louvre. At one point
during the two-year investigation into the
theft, Pablo Picasso and poet Guillaume
Apollinaire were suspects. Marcel
Duchamp’s treatment of the image
as one of his readymades, complete
with moustache and irreverent caption,
did much to catapult it to the realm of
popular culture touchstone and kitsch
icon.
78 FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT
FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT 79