The Louvre Tries Something Revolutionary?

Just happened upon this article about the Louvre's upcoming exhibition, "The Funeral of the Mona Lisa," which features the work of contemporary artist Yan Pei-Ming. The Louvre will hang Pei-Ming's version of the Mona Lisa, which features a gray Mona Lisa surrounded by skulls. Other works of Yan Pei-Ming's will also be hung in proximity to da Vinci's original.

The Louvre calls the exhibit "part of the Louvre's efforts to bring contemporary art face to face with the masterpieces of old." You might recall an installation of Jeff Koons's work at Versailles, which sparked quite a controversy. I'm surprised at the Louvre's willingness to probably incite outrage among traditionalists, and around what is probably the most famous painting in its collection. It is certainly not the fist time the Mona Lisa has been used as an inspiration for modern art, but putting what Yan Pei-Ming calls both an "homage and a funeral" for the Mona Lisa in such proximity to the original, inviting comparison, interpretation, analysis, and discussion of the Renaissance masterpiece as it relates to contemporary art practice is another thing altogether.

If any of you happen to be in Paris, at the Louvre, I'd love to know what the general reaction is to the exhibit. I'll keep my eyes peeled for further news, and be sure to post it here. My guess is that there will be an official protest, but that it certainly won't dampen the popularity of the Mona Lisa among regular tourist visitors.