Reuters reports on the opening of an exhibition of Yan Pei-Ming’s work in the same gallery as da Vinci’s work:

A giant, grey version of Mona Lisa with tears in her eyes and streaks of paint running down her front goes on display at the Louvre museum this week in the room next to the original by Leonardo da Vinci.

The new work by Franco-Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming is the centerpiece of an exhibition entitled “The Funeral of Mona Lisa,” part of the Louvre’s efforts to bring contemporary art face to face with the masterpieces of old.

The display consists of five paintings. The huge grey Mona Lisa is in the center, framed by two mysterious images that look like grey clouds and are dotted with images of skulls modeled on scans of the painter’s head.

At the far ends of the display are a portrait of Yan’s dead father and a self-portrait of Yan himself in a deathlike pose.

He said the works were “a homage and a funeral” for Mona Lisa, without further explanation.

Louvre Sets Stage for “Funeral of Mona Lisa” (Reuters)