Louvre extends Leonardo da Vinci exhibition with 24-hour free night openings

The Louvre in Paris has announced an extraordinary initiative for the final days of its landmark exhibition 'Léonard de Vinci', which marks the 500th anniversary of the artist's death. From February 21 to 24, 2020, the museum will keep the exhibition open 24 hours a day, with free admission from 9 PM to 8:30 AM. The show, which opened in late October 2019, has drawn between 5,000 and 7,000 visitors daily and is considered the most comprehensive ever on Leonardo, featuring 162 paintings and drawings from major museums worldwide. The museum expects to accommodate an additional 30,000 visitors through this extended schedule. The exhibition was curated by Vincent Delieuvin and Louis Frank after a decade of research. It faced controversies including the translation of the artist's name into French, the temporary withholding of the Vitruvian Man by Italian officials, and the absence of the disputed Salvator Mundi, replaced by a work from Leonardo's workshop.