At the Musée du Louvre in Paris, you can stand in line for half an hour for a chance to gaze upon what is perhaps the most famous work of art ever created, Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, the Mona Lisa.

It was a disappointing experience. The painting hangs alone in a large, dimly lit room. And it’s small; only 30 by 21 inches, protected behind a box of four-inch-thick bullet-proof acrylic. The paint is crackled and the colors are dark and smoky. She has not aged well in 500 years.

But in the gift shop, you can buy a poster-sized reproduction that is aesthetically superior to the original in every way. Scientists have analyzed the pigments, and using the most modern digital technology, they have re-created the Mona Lisa exactly as it would have appeared sitting wet on Leonardo’s easel in 1506. It is stunning. The poster is only €20 (about $25), while the original is, of course, priceless.

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