A portrait of the artist Leonardo da Vinci as an old man is going on show for the first time to celebrate the 500thanniversary of his death.
The image is newly identified as da Vinci and is thought to be a sketch by an unknown assistant working under the grand master in 1519.
The only other known contemporary image of da Vinci is by his pupil Francesco Melzi, which was drawn around the same time.
Experts have examined both portraits and agreed similarities that also tie up with other written descriptions of the artist and his health.
Da Vinci died on May 2, 1519, at Amboise, France, aged 67.
Queues revere his famous paintings
He was best known as a painter, and thousands of art lovers queue daily to glimpse his famous Mona Lisa in The Louvre, Paris, every day.
His other famous paintings include The Last Supper, a fresco in Milan, and The Adoration of the Magi.
His sketch of the Vitruvian Man is instantly recognisable, even though most people cannot attribute the image to the artist.
The portrait captures a flowing haired old man, with a tinge of sadness on his face.
This is attributed to da Vinci’s knowledge that he was dying before he finally succumbed to a stroke.
Revered as a true Renaissance man, da Vinci was also an erudite thinker, skilled at anatomy, engineering and architecture.
A true Renaissance man
He is credited with coming up with designs for the helicopter, bicycle and aircraft and parachute.
His notebooks contain thousands of pages of scientific notes and drawings, many from his dissection of 30 corpses to investigate the human form better for his art.
The anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death is being celebrated by exhibitions and events across Europe.
Da Vinci was born in April 1452 in a hill town in Tuscany. Little is known of his early life until he emerged as a pupil at the artist Verrocchio’s studio in Florence.
From there, his story is history charting the remarkable rise and rise of a legendary artist, philosopher and thinker.