VINCI (Italy) • In his biography of Leonardo da Vinci, written 30 years after the artist's death in 1519, Italian painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari said da Vinci had "such a power of intellect that whatever he turned his mind to, he made himself master of with ease".

In the 500th anniversary of the artist's death last year, the Musee du Louvre in Paris has undeniably stolen the limelight with its blockbuster exhibition Leonardo Da Vinci.