next to the botticelli room are two paintings by a young leonardo da vinci, the wunderkind himself. here we see his promise in an early painting, the annunciation, made when he was about 20. the adoration of the magi, painted 10 years later, is unfinished but packed with human feeling. for pure beauty and grace, look no further than the exquisite frescoes of raffaello sanzio, or raphael. raphael, born in urbino, italy, died at 37 years old. for his relatively short career, raphael's outpouring of work was phenomenal. his magnificent altarpieces and paintings usually include the madonna and child. they sum up a clear purpose in religious art-- to inspire devotion and admiration for pure beauty. the renaissance in florence was made possible, in part, by a grant from... the medici family. well, actually, more than one grant. there was cosimo, catherine, lorenzo the magnificent-- you get the idea. they made their fortunes in banking, they invested in the arts, and they all loved nice things. lorenzo's villa says it all. the medici influence over 15th-century florence is inescapable... i

one theory is a self-portrait of leonardo da vinci of himself as a woman. such a wistful, alluring smile. what does she know? those eyes follow you around the room. da vinci painting by numbers? italian research believe they discovered painting into her pupils numbers and letters, a secret code? was dan brown's da chin chi code right after all? this british professor appears unconvinced. >> the idea is pa tently absurd. you can find support for everything if you look hard enough. >> reporter: professor kemp does see an upside. >> the fact that it is engaging people with one of the great human creations is entirely to be welcomed. it's a great thing. it's exciting and it's great fun. >> reporter: in the right eye visible only through a manage fiing class italians found the letters lv. that could be clear enough, leonardo leonardo da vinci and in the arc of the background 72 or an l and 2. professor kemp found nothing. so discovery for stunt? it isn't clear. it isn't as clear as sharp as it was in leonardo's day. it is known davda vinci loved t hide symbols a

but wait a minute, leonardo da vinci painting by numbers? italian researchers believe they discovered painted into her pupils numbers and letters. a secret code? was dan brown's "the da vinci code" right after all? messages hidden in the renaissance painting? this professor appears unconvinced. >> the idea that there are numbers embedded in the pupils are absurd. you can find support for almost anything if you look hard enough. >> reporter: it reads like a mystery novel. a member of the national committee for cultural heritage was browsing in an antique shop and found a musty old book and leafed through it and read about the symbols in the eyes, but the knowledge was forgotten. even though professor kemp does see an upside. >> it's engaging people with one of the great human creations. it's sbeto be welcomed. it's a great thing. exciting, great fun. >> reporter: in the right eye, visible through a magnifying glass they found the letters "lv." that's clear enough -- leonardo da vinci. and in the other eye, ce or possibly just a b. the number

laura ha creado esto, una rÉplica del famoso cuadro de leonardo da vinci utilizando pelusa de una lavanderÍa, despuÉs invirtiÓ otras 200 horas con poniendo el cuadro que pronto serÁ exhibido en orlando, la florida ¿quÉ le parece? asÍ llegamos al final con las noticias mÁs sobresalientes de este sÁbado, maÑana regresamos en la tarde y en la noche, ojalÁ que nos pueda acompaÑar, buenas noches. ♪

da vinci realizarÁ el primer paracaÍdas, cruzar el aire es volar, como hacen las mariposas, como hacen los soÑadores. ♪♪♪ >> esto es realmente increÍble. ♪♪♪ >> recuerdo que de pequeÑo, nos contaba un profesor de historia que el dios los convertirÍa en mariposas para que no se mataran al caer, porque lo hacÍan sin sogas. ♪♪♪ quiero aprovechar para mandarle un saludo a toda esta gente que cuida las tradiciones de nuestros paÍses, las culturas, en todos nuestros paÍses, aquÍ hay un problema, nadie me dijo cÓmo tengo que aterrizar. >> y ahora... (aplausos) >> no tengo palabras para decir lo que se siente, pero que deberÍa haber subido un poeta, pero yo solamente quiero agradecer a los voladores, porque ellos en carne viva estÁ llevando esta tradiciÓn al futuro, muchas gracias tambiÉn a la municipalidad que nos apoyÓ para mostrarle al mundo esta tradiciÓn mexicana, y gracias a ustedes que han compartido con nosotros esta experiencia. volvemos con ustedes al estudio. >> muchÍsimas gracias a ti por ser tan valiente, se nos terminÓ el tiempo por hoy, muchÍs

leonardo da vinci's "last supper". >>> finally tonight a michigan woman has put a fresh pin on the last supper painting. she decided to show her love of doing the laundry by recreating the masterpiece out of dryer lint. she entered it into a local art show. we are not sure if she won but she did sell the lint supper for $12,000. who bought that thing? >> i don't know. >> thank you very much. >> that's it for eyewitness news at 11:00 p.m. thank you for watching. there is our favorite st. mary's fan. have a great night. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolo rado.com ,, ,,,, rocket scientists! you gave us the space age... but your savings accounts are stuck in the stone age! earn more commodore with interestplus savings at capitalone.com. that's new school banking, baby! [ laughs ] instead of earning zilch, your savings will be earning three times the national average. three times more? roger that! go online and sign up at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet?! where to sputnik? [ chuckles ]

. ♪ >> y para nuestro final de impacto, una insÓlita rÉplica de la obra la Última cena de leonardo da vinci, es la que hizo una artista amateur. utilizÓ peluza para crear su obra maestra. seleccionÓ las tooallas de acuerdo al color que necesitarÍa para el mural de 14 pies de altura que le tomÓ 400 horas terminar. la creatividad le quedÓ muy bien. se nos terminÓ el tiempo.