I've said this before, but, "altering the Mona Lisa" is a BAD example. Leonardo carried that painting around with him for YEARS & CONTINUED to work on it for YEARS. he made MANY alterations before it became the masterpiece as we now know it.
& since i'm on the subject, just thought i'd clarify a pet peeve of mine. His name is Leonardo... NOT "da Vinci", despite what an ignorant book from recent years might have you believe... Calling him "da Vinci" would be like calling Michael Jordan "from Chicago".
Anyways, hope that doesn't come across too snarky, as it's not meant to be. Just wanted to clarify some common misconceptions about an incredible artist & his most famous painting.
Back on topic, this sounds like an interesting project & i hope it's recieved well. maybe it will help those in power to see the light & release the OOT in all it's glory. & i strongly agree with the sentiments of preserving the art as it was first shown. even if alterations are made, the original version should be preserved so people can see what made the landmark impact on people of the time, & then see how it changed over the years.
So, i guess i agree with the idea you're expressing with the mona lisa example. It's just that the mona lisa is a poor choice to exemplify that idea....