The Replication of Veronese’s Wedding at Cana and of Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel: Two Iconic Works as Their Surrogates

ABSTRACTThe paper discusses in detail the cases of two different sorts of reproductions: the first, that of the Wedding at Cana, by Veronese. The original work is displayed in the Louvre, while a high-quality replica is displayed in its stead in Venice. The second example is Bicycle Wheel, by Duchamp, the original of which is destroyed. Subsequently, many versions and appropriations of Bicycle Wheel have been fabricated, whose status is examined in this paper. The aesthetic properties of originals and reproductions are investigated in these two examples, with reference to the problems of authenticity and intertextuality. An intertextual approach to their significance is discussed, based on a series of different scenarios, and personal perceptual knowledge, for the observers of each work.