500 Years After Leonardo Da Vinci's Death, France Celebrates His Life And Work

"The largest-ever collection of works by Leonardo da Vinci is drawing record crowds at the Louvre in Paris this year, the 500th anniversary of the artist's death. The Louvre has brought together more than 100 paintings, drawings and manuscripts for the exhibition, which opened in October and will end in February."

"Leonardo was a perfectionist, which is why, experts say, he produced only about 15 paintings. The exhibition includes 11 of them, the most ever brought together in one place. The Louvre keeps five of his paintings in its permanent collection."

"The show also includes more than 80 drawings. Biographer Serge Bramly says the drawings and notebooks give visitors a vivid sense of how Leonardo, who was born near Florence in 1452, worked."

"'You can really get into his brain and try to see how he thought,' says Bramly. 'For example, some of the drawings are really impressive because on the same page, you have geometry, machineries, antiques. There are some clouds in the corner. There is an eye. You can find very small horsemen fighting. Everything on the same page. And that's the way he used to think and work — doing everything at the same time.'"