One of Leonardo da Vinci’s final works will be on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi as part of the museum’s fifth-anniversary festivities. The painting will be on loan from the Louvre Museum in Paris and be on exhibit for two years in the permanent galleries of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. 

Saint John the Baptist, the 16th-century oil on wood painting that is one of the Parisian Louvre’s most popular displays, will be on show from November 8 in Louvre Abu Dhabi. 

“The arrival of this renowned masterpiece from Musee du Louvre demonstrates the unique and profound nature of our long-term collaboration. Visitors to Louvre Abu Dhabi have an unmissable opportunity to engage with magnificent artwork that captures an extraordinary moment in history and now represents a monumental chapter in our own grand story,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The painting has been leased to other institutions before; this will be the longest time the piece has been away from France. The artwork fits the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s global model because of its broad scope and subject matter.

Earlier, the Tuscan artist’s La Belle Ferronniere, commonly known as Portrait of an Unknown Woman, was loaned to Abu Dhabi to commemorate its opening in 2017.