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Artsology

Art Detective Game

A fictional art mystery game featuring Leonardo da Vinci and Cindy Sherman-look-alikes

You're the detective, and these are the details: there was a social function in the home of a wealthy art collector on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The theme of the party was "Cindy Sherman Disguises," in honor of the Cindy Sherman Retrospective at MoMA. A number of the women at the party were dressed up like characters from Cindy Sherman pictures, and it turned into a rambunctious party. At the end of the evening, with everyone having gone home, the art collector went to his library to turn out the lights before going to bed. Upon entering the library, he discovered that someone had stolen a page out of his priceless Leonardo da Vinci Codex! Why would someone only steal one page, and not the whole codex? Perhaps the thief knew that getting the whole codex out undetected would be impossible, or perhaps this page had significant meaning or value. Scroll down to begin your detective work ...

Here's the crime scene ... as you can see in the room view of the library, below left, the codex was being displayed on a book stand, but the protective plexiglas case was removed and the page on the right side has been ripped out. You can see a closer view top right (below), and the original codex page below that.

crime scene with stolen Leonardo da Vinci Codex

Your deputy is able to secure some video surveillance footage from the night before. Scroll through the camera channels to see if you can pick up any clues or see anything suspicious.

There's clearly some women at the party who seem to be aware of the security cameras, at times getting caught looking directly into the view of the camera. This would seem to be a sign that they're conscious of their location in relation to the cameras, and perhaps they're trying to stake out positions to get out of the camera's view? Or is this just coincidence?

The party was clearly contained to certain rooms, as you'll see empty areas of the apartment as well ... but can you pick up any clues from those rooms? Is there any footage from the crime scene?

Based on this footage and discussions with your deputy detective, you decide to round up a few of the guests from last night's party for a line up, to compare faces from the footage with the people standing in front of you.

   View channels:

The suspects have been brought in for questioning. The host of the party - the wealthy art collector - has mentioned that some of the women at the party were in Cindy Sherman disguises, but some were not ... but he's not available now to tell you which one of these ladies below is not dressed like a Cindy Sherman character. Can you determine which one is not in costume? But then again, are you sure the non-Cindy Sherman character is the most-suspicious suspect? Click or tap on the suspect you want to interview one-on-one.

police line-up with Cindy Sherman characters

Note: After you tap or click to choose your person of interest, you will be taken to Part 2 of The Art Detective Game. You will have the option to come back here if you decide you need to interview a different suspect.

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