Louvre Abu Dhabi to open with a Leonardo?

One of the Musée du Louvre’s five works by Leonardo da Vinci, La Belle Ferronnière, around 1495-99, could be restored in time to be lent to the Louvre Abu Dhabi when it opens in 2015, our sister paper Le Journal des Arts reports. The conservation project was due to begin on 31 March, as we went to press, with an estimated 18-month duration. Vincent Pomarède, the director of the Louvre’s painting department, has responded to recent debate about the fragility of the work, saying: “The loan is not risky and fits into the new museum’s scientific and cultural plans.” A show of more than 160 acquisitions for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Birth of a Museum”, opens at the Musée du Louvre on 2 May (until 28 July).