A landmark exhibition of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci is on display at London’s National Gallery, the first time so many of his masterpieces have been displayed together.

Among the nine paintings are his two versions of the Virgin of the Rocks, which will hang face to face for the first time.

Da Vinci is thought to have produced about 20 paintings during his lifetime, but just 15 have survived.

Art fans will be able to see Salvator Mundi, which was only recently authenticated as a Da Vinci, as well as three groundbreaking portraits: The Portrait of a Musician, La Belle Ferronniere and The Lady with an Ermine.

The exhibition, which also includes more than 50 drawings, focuses on Da Vinci’s observation, imagination and painting technique which developed while he was employed as the court painter in Milan in the 1480s and 1490s.

Madonna of the Yarnwinder, Saint Jerome and Virgin and Child (Madonna Litta) make up the nine paintings, which are complemented by a full-scale contemporary copy of The Last Supper mural in Milan, shown in a room nearby.

“The exhibition focuses for the very first time on Leonardo the painter, and we’ve been able to gather here the largest number of pictures that’s ever been seen in one place,” said curator Luke Syson.

Most of the paintings have been loaned from European museums, a remarkable achievement for the National Gallery because curators are normally deeply reluctant to allow their Da Vinci treasures to be shown elsewhere.