No Mona Lisa but these works are her equals

This is one of those exhibitions that makes you proud and thankful to live in our great city.

Only a gallery with as great a collection as the National has the power to convince other great world museums such as the Louvre and the Hermitage to part with their priceless jewels. Of course, no amount of persuasion would prompt the Louvre to lend the Mona Lisa, but many of the works in this show are at least the equal of Leonardo's masterpiece.

While the hordes queue to see the Mona Lisa, you can quite easily be completely alone with La Belle Ferronière; a less mysterious portrait, perhaps, but no less powerful in its almost sculptural classicism. In the Madonna Litta, the Virgin has one of the most serene, tender faces in all art, reflecting da Vinci's quest to capture the "motions of the soul" through facial expressions.

To its credit, the National has chosen to show less widely celebrated artists recently, but there is something special when it turns to the great geniuses of art. I can barely contain my excitement at the thought of this show. It's a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, so get booking.