Record numbers at da Vinci exhibition

The 10 drawings were selected from a choice of 600

An exhibition of rarely-seen drawings by Leonardo da Vinci has brought record visitors to a south Wales gallery.

About 30,000 people came to see the 10 works at the Glyn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea during the two-month show.

Attendances far exceeded any previous exhibition in the gallery's recent history

Jenni Spencer-Davis, Gallery curator

The drawings, which have been loaned from the Royal Collection as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations, are usually kept in a Windsor Castle vault.

The exhibition brings together a selection of da Vinci's diverse range of drawings.

It includes studies of the sea-god Neptune, a highly finished map of southern Tuscany, the anatomy of a shoulder and a beautiful youth in profile.

"Attendances far exceeded any previous exhibition in the gallery's recent history," said Jenni Spencer-Davis, curator of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.

The gallery is only one of four galleries in the UK to show the works by the Italian renaissance artist - they will be on show in Sheffield from next week, before moving on to Northern Ireland.

The artist's work drew 100,000 visitors to the show in Liverpool

The Lady Lever Art Gallery, in Port Sunlight, on the Wirral, Merseyside, was the first venue of the display.

It prompted a 465% increase in usual visitor numbers, according to figures released by the Royal Collection.

Da Vinci was born in 1452, and became famous for his work as a sculptor, painter, architect, engineer and scientist.

The drawings, part of the Royal Collection since before 1690, were thought to have been acquired during the reign of Charles II.

The drawings can never be placed on permanent display because of potential damage from exposure to light.

The exhibition will be on at the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield until September 21, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast from September 27 to December 8.