A passing lane (North American English) or overtaking lane (British, Irish and Australian English) is the lane on a multi-lane highway or motorway closest to the center of the road (the central reservation). In some countries, lanes are described as being on the 'inside' or the 'outside' of a road - which one the passing lane is varies.
When Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, he never could have guessed her absence would be the very thing that made her the most recognizable painting on the planet.
Here's a passage about the Mona Lisa, written by the Victorian-era writer Walter Pater: We all know the face and hands of the figure, set in its marble chair, in that circle of fantastic rocks, as in some faint light under sea. Perhaps of all ancient pictures time has chilled it least.