Leonardo da Vinci: L'idea della Bellezza

The last time Tokyo hosted a high-profile Leonardo da Vinci exhibition back in 2007, art lovers had to content themselves with a single work – albeit a very good one – by the Renaissance artist. The Bunkamura's latest attempt might also be open to charges of spreading itself thin, though you can expect a slightly more generous serving of da Vinci alongside the inevitable contemporaneous work and contextual padding. The main draw is the unfinished 'Head of a Woman' (aka 'La Scapigliata'), which is being displayed in Japan for the first time, along with a version of 'Virgin of the Rocks' that's believed to have been created by da Vinci and one of his apprentices. Meanwhile, pieces including the so-called 'nude Mona Lisa' and 'second Mona Lisa' – thought to have been created by artists within da Vinci's orbit, if not necessarily by the man himself – throw further light on his conceptions of female beauty.