Leonardo's French journey feted 500 years on

(ANSA) - Paris, September 21 - An exhibit opening Wednesday at the Italian embassy in Paris is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the arrival in France of Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci.
    The show - "Leonardo in France - The Master and his Pupils 500 years after crossing the Alps" - runs through November 20.
    It gives an insight into Leonardo's journey and his last years in Amboise, where Francis I, France's great Renaissance king, had invited da Vinci, letting him use the stately home Manoir du Cloux close to the king's Chteau d'Amboise, and where the great genius died on May 2, 1519, at the age of 67. Showcasing some of Leonardo's most interesting masterpieces, including Head of a Woman (also known as La Scapigliata, from the collection of Parma's National Gallery), the exhibit focuses on his French period and vies to compare his work with that of his closest pupils including Francesco Melzi, who travelled with him to France.
    Also on display are paintings by Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salai, who later joined Leonardo in Amboise.
    Melzi's and Salai's artworks, lent by a number of leading Italian museums including Florence's Uffizi, will be showcased for the first time together.
    Head of a Woman is an "extraordinary" and "little-known" painting by the Renaissance master, Mario Scalini, the director of the museums of the central Emilia Romagna museum, said Tuesday, when Italian ambassador to France Giandomenico Magliano gave a preview of the show.
    Visitors will also be able to discover iconographic work put together by a team of researchers from the Louvre Museum, led by its president and director Jean-Luc Martinez, on the masterpieces that Leonardo took with him to France - the Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist.
    Research on a fourth painting that was subsequently lost and represented Leda will be included.
    The exhibit was officially inaugurated Wednesday by Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini and his French counterpart Audrey Azoulay and takes place under the patronage of the Italian and French presidents, Sergio Mattarella and Francois Hollande.
    Italian insurer Generali, defense group Leonardo-Finmeccanica and fashion house Prada sponsored it.
    The show is open every day for free (from 11 am until 5 pm) at the Italian embassy in the Hotel de la Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, in Rue de Varenne, through November 20.