He drew portraits for Italian dukes, painted for popes and died at the court of a French king. Leonardo da Vinci was an artist who defied borders, who crossed the Alps to France from Italy carrying his most famous work, the Mona Lisa, on a donkey's back. FRANCE 24 brings you a special edition of Encore! to mark 500 years since da Vinci's death.

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Our culture editor Eve Jackson takes us to his birthplace in Vinci, to his training ground in Florence, to Amboise in the Loire Valley where he spent the final years of his life and to Paris's Louvre which holds more of his major works than anywhere else in the world.

>> On France24.com: Leonardo da Vinci's French years

For more information, you can check out the websites of Chiara Patu, our Florence tour guide: Elite Italian Guides and Discover Florence With Us.

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