Italy And France Kiss And Make Up Over Leonardo’s 500th Anniversary

Last fall, the culture ministry of Italy’s new populist government took exception to the Louvre’s plan to assemble an unprecedented number of da Vinci’s paintings for a major quincentennial show this fall. A ministry official accused the Louvre of “[leaving] Italy on the margins of a major cultural event” when “Leonardo is Italian; he only died in France” and cancelled all loans from Italy for the event. But, after a meeting last week, differences have been ironed out and the Louvre show will proceed as planned. – Hyperallergic