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Every year in May, art galleries and museums prepare shows to honor Leonardo da Vinci, who died in France on May 2, 1519. He is remembered as one of the most influential artists and creative thinkers of all time. His most famous and representative paintings are Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

   Recently, researchers have been studying a painting—Landscape 8P, which they think is Da Vinci's earliest­known artwork. They used special lighting to study the artwork and discovered there are two images, not one. One drawing is on the back of the piece, which dates back to August 5,1473.

The drawing on the front was painted when Leonardo was 21 years old. It shows a river valley and a castle outside the city of Florence. There is little left of the drawing on the back, perhaps because it was wiped off. Only a bridge over a river can be seen. But there is writing on both sides.

The writing on the front gives the date and goes from right to left. Some people would call this “mirror writing”. It's a way Leonardo often wrote in his notebooks. The writing on the back goes from left to right and tells about an agreement, probably to produce a work of art.

Cecilia Frosinini is an art historian. She said, “Leonardo was born left­handed, but was taught to write with his right hand from a very young age. By looking at his writing, we can see his right­handed handwriting is educated and well done. ”

Experts compared the two handwriting samples (Ñù±¾) and said they were both made by Leonardo. They show he could write well using his left hand or his right hand.

The artwork is known as Landscape 8P from its number in an art list. It will be part of an exhibition at the Uffizi Gallery in Italy. The gallery director, Eike Schmidt, said the artwork is worthy of our attention, and that by studying it, researchers gave us a new way of looking at Leonardo's drawing techniques and his abilities in writing.

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1£®What does the writing on the back probably tell about?

A£®A statement about the painting.

B£®An agreement to produce a painting.

C£®An introduction of Leonardo.

D£®Something about the city of Florence.

2£®What can we learn about Leonardo from Cecilia's words?

A£®He did badly in right­handed handwriting.

B£®He wasn't good at writing with his left hand.

C£®He could write with both of his hands.

D£®He taught himself to write with the right hand.

3£®What's Eike Schmidt's attitude towards the research?

A£®Unclear.  B£®Indifferent.

C£®Positive.  D£®Doubtful.