Leonardo da Vinci portrait marks 500th anniversary of his death

This portrait, newly identified as Leonardo da Vinci, is going on display in London as the world marks the 500th anniversary of the death of the artist and inventor. Only one other portrait has survived from the artist's lifetime, aside from self-portraits.
Martin Clayton was researching an exhibition for The Queen's Gallery in London when he identified the sketch as a study of Leonardo made by an unidentified assistant shortly before the master's death in 1519.
The only other contemporary image is by his pupil, Francesco Melzi, created around the same time, seen below.

"In the sketch, he is aged about 65 and appears a little melancholy and world-weary. If you compare this sketch with Francesco Melzi's portrait of Leonardo, you can see strong indications that this too is a depiction of the artist," says Mr Clayton of the Royal Collection Trust.
"The elegant straight nose, the line of the beard rising diagonally up the cheek to the ear, a ringlet falling from the moustache at the corner of the mouth, and the long wavy hair are all exactly as Melzi showed them in his portrait.
"Leonardo was renowned for his well-kept and luxuriant beard, at a time when relatively few men were bearded - though the beard was rapidly coming into fashion at this time."