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Mona Lisa unexpectedly pops up near Newport

11:31 AM PDT on Wednesday, August 16, 2006

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

TOLEDO, Ore. – Mona Lisa has been spotted in Oregon.

Photo courtesy of Pat Ringer

Mona Lisa in the grass near Toledo, Ore.

No, the enigmatic lady hasn’t moved from The Louvre to the Pacific Northwest – she has been reproduced on a grassy hillside visible from Highway 20. And she has been drawing plenty of attention.

“Today on our way back to Newport from Toledo there were 4-6 cars pulled to the side of the road there taking pictures and so excited about what they were seeing,” Pat Ringer told KGW on Tuesday.

An Oregon State Police trooper was among onlookers who stopped to gaze at the Mona Lisa, according to OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings.

  See Mona Lisa for yourself

“This picture has all of the details of the original painting and even the shadow along the nose…this is the first time that I have ever seen anything like this...this is something that will just send chills through you, it is so real,” Ringer said.

Artist Samuel Clemens, who created the grassy Mona Lisa and owns the home above the field, said he used paint and a giant stencil for the project.

The reproduction is several miles from Toledo, on the left-hand side as a person drives from Toledo toward Newport, according to Ringer, who described it as "breathtaking" and "huge."

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