"The sense of perfection in every sense. First of all, spiritual perfection, the expression in the portraits. The sort of deep understanding of the human soul. Also, when representing sacred subjects, representing the divine as though he had been able to see it. Just in front of God himself in a way. Because the expression in Saint Anne's face is so Christ-like and the expression of divine love over humanity. And this is very seldom represented in art. So this extraordinary way of representing this supreme feeling and also the perfection in the shaping, and the composition and everything was perfect with him."

Jacques Franck is a specialist in Leonardo da Vinci who has trained both as an art historian and as a classical painter. A consulting expert to the Louvre, the Armand Hammer Centre for Da Vinci Studies at UCLA, and other institutions, he has spent almost fifty years immersed in the Italian master’s body of work. Franck has made “critical copies” in order to better understand DaVinci’s techniques, which have been shown at the Uffizi, and has dedicated his life to raising awareness about the dangers of restoration based on insufficient knowledge. He spoke to Mia on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of DaVinci and his major retrospective exhibition at the Louvre bringing together almost 120 works from the most prestigious European and American institutions.

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