Much about Leonardo Da Vinci remains an enigma: the smile of the “Mona Lisa”; why the world’s most famous painter left so many works unfinished; and more recently, who bought the contentious “Salvator Mundi.”
Five centuries after Da Vinci’s death, several mysteries still surround the renaissance genius. The Louvre’s current exhibition sheds light on some of them.
“We often tend to show that Leonard got lost in an extraordinary maze of scientific research, but in reality, painting was at the center of his life,” Louis Frank, curator at the Louvre exhibition told NTD. “He [Da Vinci] called it a divine science of the divine.”
Expressing the divine character was a goal sought by many Renaissance painters.
Though Da Vinci died in France, curator Vincent Delieuvin told The Associated Press that Louvre officials recognize and celebrate the painter’s Italian roots.
500 years after his death, Da Vinci’s genius continues to shine on the world of painting.
Reporting by NTD’s David Vives
The Associated Press contributed to this report.