Italy refuses to send its Leonardo paintings from the Uffizi to the Louvre this fall

Interesting. I'm surprised that the previous Minister of Culture would have agreed to loan them in the first place; he/she had to know that this would be a huge event in Italy.

Is the painting Genevra(?sp) from the US National Gallery going?

You see examples of disagreements quite often in Europe between governments. Art exhibitions may be an example of one country one upping the other--matter of control.
I often see flights and trains between certain large cities to be few and far between, and they can be a matter of politics. And then I'll see numerous flights going from small cities to small cities you wouldn't think had service.

I'm not surprised that they won't let them go either, Joel.

I don't know if this detail might also apply to these particular works (I'd have to look it up) but the last of the Medici lineal line - Anna Maria Luisa - willed all of the personal Medici property, including the vast art collection, to the Tuscan state in 1737 (reference the "Patto di Famiglia") under the agreement that none of it ever leave Florence. A large part of the collection was sort of the 'seed' for what eventually became the public Galleria Uffizi, although works once owned by the family can be found in other locations around Florence as well.

Good for Italy, and I hope they do not reverse their decision. While I love all-well, most things-French, like the Louvre, I cannot imagine what the previous guy in Italy was thinking here in telling the Louvre 'sure no problem'.
The linked article starts by proclaiming that the Italian government is currently "populist", as if that has something to do with it, which it may, but all the same, he was an Italian...

"Italy’s populist government says..."

I'm feeling very Leonardo-inspired myself, having visited this weekend the chateau in Amboise where he spent his last years at the invitation of King Francois Ier. My dad's an engineer, so I appreciate all the maquettes and models of various of his inventions, and it was fun to see the rooms dressed, to include Leonardo's bedroom, workshop, and grand dining room. In one corner room they had engineered what I thought to be an absolutely superb hologram of Leonardo talking to a court visitor, projected into a room where the actor playing Leonardo appeared to really be sitting on the chair in front of toy. Those things are usually kind of artless, but this one was mesmerizing. Also fun to see it all dressed up for Christmas!

Highly recommended if you're visiting the Loire Valley.

http://www.vinci-closluce.com/en