The enduring fascination of the Mona Lisa

The New York Times recently devoted almost a full page in its news section to an article about the examination and analysis of a contemporary copy of the Mona Lisa in the Prado’s collection and the work of Ana Gonzalez Mozo, the researcher in the museum’s technical doccumentation department who studied the painting (“Beneath That Beguiling Smile, Seeing What Leonardo Saw”, by Suzanne Daley, April 14, 2012). Could this article be an indication of a growing interest in technical studies of works of art? Or is it merely a testament to the enduring fascination of the Mona Lisa?