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| Leonardo da Vinci events marred by Italy and France row | Leonardo da Vinci events marred by Italy and France row |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Events to commemorate Leonardo da Vinci will take place in France and Italy on Thursday, the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death, with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosting his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella. | Events to commemorate Leonardo da Vinci will take place in France and Italy on Thursday, the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death, with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosting his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella. |
| The two heads of state will meet at Amboise in the Indre-et-Loire region to visit the Château du Clos Lucé, where Da Vinci lived from the autumn of 1516 until his death in 1519. | |
| Among the works brought to Clos Lucé from Italy by the Renaissance master were Mona Lisa, St John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child with St Anne. He is believed to have worked further on some or all of them at the château. All three paintings are displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. | Among the works brought to Clos Lucé from Italy by the Renaissance master were Mona Lisa, St John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child with St Anne. He is believed to have worked further on some or all of them at the château. All three paintings are displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. |
| Macron extended the invitation to Mattarella in February as a way to help ease the diplomatic tensions that had escalated between the two countries. | Macron extended the invitation to Mattarella in February as a way to help ease the diplomatic tensions that had escalated between the two countries. |
| Da Vinci commemorations were also dragged into the spat – which mostly centred around immigration – after Lucia Borgonzoni, an undersecretary at Italy’s ministry of culture, accused France of trying to take centre stage and suggested the Italian government would cancel the loans of some of the artist’s paintings to the Louvre. | Da Vinci commemorations were also dragged into the spat – which mostly centred around immigration – after Lucia Borgonzoni, an undersecretary at Italy’s ministry of culture, accused France of trying to take centre stage and suggested the Italian government would cancel the loans of some of the artist’s paintings to the Louvre. |
| To drive home her point, Borgonzoni said: “Leonardo is Italian, he only died in France.” | To drive home her point, Borgonzoni said: “Leonardo is Italian, he only died in France.” |
| Who was Leonardo da Vinci and what can we learn from him? | Who was Leonardo da Vinci and what can we learn from him? |
| The Louvre, which holds five of only 14 paintings attributed to Da Vinci, had sought from Italy some works considered robust enough to travel for a show that will open in October. In return, the Louvre was to lend certain Raphael works to Italy for an exhibition next year. It is unclear how the matter was resolved, but Borgonzoni told reporters in February that the countries’ culture ministries were working towards a more “balanced” agreement. | The Louvre, which holds five of only 14 paintings attributed to Da Vinci, had sought from Italy some works considered robust enough to travel for a show that will open in October. In return, the Louvre was to lend certain Raphael works to Italy for an exhibition next year. It is unclear how the matter was resolved, but Borgonzoni told reporters in February that the countries’ culture ministries were working towards a more “balanced” agreement. |
| After a lunch at Clos Lucé, Macron and Mattarella will travel to the Château de Chambord where 500 French and Italian youngsters will take part in a series of workshops on the themes of architecture, literature and the sciences to celebrate the Renaissance. | After a lunch at Clos Lucé, Macron and Mattarella will travel to the Château de Chambord where 500 French and Italian youngsters will take part in a series of workshops on the themes of architecture, literature and the sciences to celebrate the Renaissance. |
| Macron will be accompanied by his wife Brigitte and the French culture minister, Franck Riester. | Macron will be accompanied by his wife Brigitte and the French culture minister, Franck Riester. |
| More than 300 police and gendarmes have been drafted into the town of 13,000 people on the southern banks of the Loire River for the presidential visit. | More than 300 police and gendarmes have been drafted into the town of 13,000 people on the southern banks of the Loire River for the presidential visit. |
| The visit comes after the disappearance from public view of one of Da Vinci’s most celebrated – and expensive – works, Salvator Mundi. | The visit comes after the disappearance from public view of one of Da Vinci’s most celebrated – and expensive – works, Salvator Mundi. |
| The Louvre had hoped to have the painting – sold for a record-breaking $450m at auction in New York in November 2017 – on display at its Da Vinci exhibition later this year. | The Louvre had hoped to have the painting – sold for a record-breaking $450m at auction in New York in November 2017 – on display at its Da Vinci exhibition later this year. |
| The Da Vinci mystery: why is his $450m masterpiece really being kept under wraps? | The Da Vinci mystery: why is his $450m masterpiece really being kept under wraps? |
| But since the sale, the painting, thought to have been bought by a member of the Saudi royal family, has not been seen. It was to have been unveiled at the Louvre Abu Dhabi last September, but the ceremony was cancelled. | But since the sale, the painting, thought to have been bought by a member of the Saudi royal family, has not been seen. It was to have been unveiled at the Louvre Abu Dhabi last September, but the ceremony was cancelled. |
| A request from the Louvre Paris to borrow the work for the Da Vinci exhibition has not been answered. “The Louvre asked the Abu Dhabi department of culture and tourism for the loan. We still haven’t had a response,” a spokesperson for the Paris museum told AFP. | A request from the Louvre Paris to borrow the work for the Da Vinci exhibition has not been answered. “The Louvre asked the Abu Dhabi department of culture and tourism for the loan. We still haven’t had a response,” a spokesperson for the Paris museum told AFP. |
| According to the Wall Street Journal, the mystery buyer was the Saudi prince Badr bin Abdullah, the country’s culture minister, acting on behalf of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, who has refused to confirm whether he bought the painting. | According to the Wall Street Journal, the mystery buyer was the Saudi prince Badr bin Abdullah, the country’s culture minister, acting on behalf of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, who has refused to confirm whether he bought the painting. |
| Meanwhile in Italy, several events marking the year-long celebrations, including the first presentation of a lock of hair that experts say could belong to the artistic genius, begin on Thursday. | Meanwhile in Italy, several events marking the year-long celebrations, including the first presentation of a lock of hair that experts say could belong to the artistic genius, begin on Thursday. |
| Florence’s Uffizi Gallery will exhibit the Codex Leicester, a collection of Da Vinci’s scientific writings and the city’s Palazzo Strozzi will host a show dedicated to the artist’s master, Andrea del Verrocchio. In Rome, the Scuderie del Quirinale will display some of Da Vinci’s technical and scientific works, while the Vatican will exhibit his unfinished painting, Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, for free at the Braccio di Carlo Magno in St Peter’s Square until 22 June. | Florence’s Uffizi Gallery will exhibit the Codex Leicester, a collection of Da Vinci’s scientific writings and the city’s Palazzo Strozzi will host a show dedicated to the artist’s master, Andrea del Verrocchio. In Rome, the Scuderie del Quirinale will display some of Da Vinci’s technical and scientific works, while the Vatican will exhibit his unfinished painting, Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, for free at the Braccio di Carlo Magno in St Peter’s Square until 22 June. |
| In Vinci, the small Tuscan town where Da Vinci was born, the hair lock will be presented during a press conference at Leonardiana library on Thursday morning, before going on display at the town’s Ideale Leonardo da Vinci Museum. The historians behind the discovery, Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato, will soon begin DNA tests on the hair strand, which has previously been hidden away in a private collection in the US. | In Vinci, the small Tuscan town where Da Vinci was born, the hair lock will be presented during a press conference at Leonardiana library on Thursday morning, before going on display at the town’s Ideale Leonardo da Vinci Museum. The historians behind the discovery, Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato, will soon begin DNA tests on the hair strand, which has previously been hidden away in a private collection in the US. |
| But while plenty of other events are planned elsewhere across the country, the diplomatic row has cast a shadow over the commemorations. | But while plenty of other events are planned elsewhere across the country, the diplomatic row has cast a shadow over the commemorations. |
| Barbara Agosti, art history professor at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and a member of the committee overseeing the celebrations, said there should have been more cooperation with France. | Barbara Agosti, art history professor at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and a member of the committee overseeing the celebrations, said there should have been more cooperation with France. |
| She said: “There hasn’t been the political intelligence to coordinate this situation in a constructive way, for the benefit of Leonardo. | She said: “There hasn’t been the political intelligence to coordinate this situation in a constructive way, for the benefit of Leonardo. |
| “There is no doubt that France has been better organised; it seems as if Leonardo the painter is being celebrated by the Louvre but not so much by Italy. Certain decisions created a mess, it was badly managed from the beginning and now we are seeing the effects on the Leonardo commemorations. Next it will be Raphael.” | “There is no doubt that France has been better organised; it seems as if Leonardo the painter is being celebrated by the Louvre but not so much by Italy. Certain decisions created a mess, it was badly managed from the beginning and now we are seeing the effects on the Leonardo commemorations. Next it will be Raphael.” |
| • This article was amended on 2 May 2019 to qualify an assertion that three major works by Da Vinci – Mona Lisa, St John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child with St Anne – were entirely painted at Clos Lucé. Da Vinci lived at the château from late 1516, not March 1516. | |
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