Leonardo da Vinci handbag sketch brought to life It may be no oil painting - but this luxury new handbag is virtually a work of art. The exclusive Italian accessory is based on a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. 18 January 2012 Most famous for painting the Mona Lisa, Leonardo is also known for conceiving many other ideas well ahead of his time - including the helicopter, the submarine, and the parachute. Now fragmented drawings by the Renaissance artist have been reassembled by scholars and brought to life by luxury Florence fashion house Gherardini to create a handmade calfskin bag, named Pretiosa or "precious." The sketch was first discovered by Da Vinci scholar Carlo Pedretti in 1978 among tens of thousands of the inventor's drawings but faded into obscurity. Art historian Alessandro Vessozi, director of the Museo Ideale in Da Vinci's birthplace Vinci, reassembled the drawing with fellow expert Agnese Sabato. Mr Vessozi said: "Leonardo designed several fashion accessories, but this bag is pretty unique. It blends beauty and functionality in a very harmonious way. The Pretiosa is the expression of modern technique and aesthetics and, at the same time, embodies a provocative idea conceived together with the Leonardo Da Vinci Ideal Museum. The refined handmade calfskin bag designed by Carla Braccialini was unveiled at the Pitti W fashion show in Florence last week. Da Vinci's drawing is thought to have been sketched at the end of the 15th century in 1497 when the artist was painting the tapestries in the Last Supper. Lorenzo Braccialini, marketing director of Braccialini, Gherardini's holding company, said: "It's a very chic handbag. It is also very functional and capable. Indeed, it embodies the best Florentine tradition of leather work. Just 99 of the bags have been made. They will be on sale in Gherardini boutiques at the beginning of March.