Painter at the court of Milan

Leonardo da Vinci at The National Gallery - what a once in a life time exhibition to attend. Seeing as he is sometimes know as the 'false starter' it was surprising just how many pieces were intact. Beautifully displayed in a contradictory, hovering and elusive way the curators matched my vision and expectations of Leonardo - precise, intense control against the inquisitive, remote and sometimes disturbing artist. Simplicity was the key, with one or two portraits to view in each room and the lighting superbly matched to that of the pictures themselves, it made his pale figures loom out of the darkness giving it a very mysterious feel. With clever positioning, the portrait of Ludovico Sforza's wife giving an evil stare to the beautiful Cecillia Galleranni, Sforza's 16 year old mistress on the other side of the room was a wonderful way to showcase the work of such a visual thinker.

It is in his drawings that Leonardo truly comes alive for me, trying to interpret what you see is often overshadowed by the presence of his work. Sketches, studies, meanderings, jokes and notes are in abundance which remind you of his enquiring and lively mind. He would sometimes begin a drawing close to the edge of the paper, leaving himself no space for its completion. It is as if he had so many thoughts that in his hurry and enthusiasm he sometimes missed the paper!

The first piece of work you see, potentially his greatest drawing - his vision of how the mind works in 1486 - beside his portrait of a musician, you see the true master. The musician's eyes are painted as glinting spheres, all vitality and inner perception. Leonardo sensed the connection between the mind and the eye, 'to see is in some sense to know' he wrote. Astonishing.

We are never likely to see so many of Leonardo's work brought together again in our lifetime and as they seemed to carry Leonardo's thoughts with such intimacy it felt like an honour to be in their presence. But there was a sense of something missing, something going on that you couldn't see, simply put I wonder what was really going on in Leonardo's mind back in the 1400's - I guess we will never know.

Image taken from www.nationalgallery.org.uk