Da Vinci works to come together

27 July 2011 Last updated at 14:44 GMT The National Portrait Gallery's version of the work will be loaned to The Louvre London's National Gallery and The Louvre in Paris have announced plans to unite both versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin Of The Rocks.

The Louvre is to lend its version to the London gallery where it will be displayed as part of a new exhibition.

In return, the gallery will lend the French institution its cartoon called The Virgin And Child With Saint Anne And John The Baptist.

National Gallery director Dr Nicholas Penny said they are "delighted".

He said that his colleagues were grateful to their French counterparts for the loan of the "celebrated painting" which was created 25 years prior to the National's Virgin Of The Rocks Together work.

The two exhibitions will mark the artist's career and will provide a "unique chance" for visitors to study his work.

The Louvre's director Henri Loyrette said the "exceptional collaboration" between the two galleries will provide the "historical juxtaposition long desired by art historians".

The National's Painter Of The Court Of Milan exhibition will start in November and run until February next year.

The Louvre's show will start in March and will continue until June.

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Lost Da Vinci art to go on show

12 July 2011 Last updated at 09:08 GMT The painting was once owned by King Charles I A rediscovered oil painting by Leonardo Da Vinci is to go on show at the National Gallery in November.

Salvator Mundi, meaning Saviour of the World, dates to around 1500 and depicts a figure of Christ holding an orb.

The work was long known to have existed, but had been presumed to have been lost or destroyed.

The painting will be displayed as part of the gallery's Leonardo da Vinci: Painter of the Court of Milan exhibition from 9 November.

The recently authenticated work was once owned by King Charles I and recorded in his art collection in 1649 before being auctioned by the son of the Duke of Buckingham in 1763.

It next appeared in 1900, damaged from previous restoration attempts and its authorship unclear, when it was purchased by a British collector, Sir Frederick Cook.

Cook's descendants sold it at auction in 1958 for ?45 and it was acquired by a US consortium of art dealers in 2005.

After undergoing extensive conservation treatment last year, it was determined to be an original Da Vinci work.

It is now estimated to be worth around ?120m.

The last time a Da Vinci painting was discovered was in 1909, when the Benois Madonna came to light.

The piece is currently on display at the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

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