At a special media preview of its major new Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man exhibit, the Vancouver Art Gallery this morning announced admission will be free during the Olympic Games (February 12 to 28).The offer comes as a result of the VAG being the site of the B.C. Canada Pavilion, which will be located on its fourth floor.

The Da Vinci show, which officially opens Saturday (February 6), comes on loan from the Royal Collection of Queen Elizabeth II.

It is the largest collection of drawings by the artist ever to be shown in Canada.

"Included are some of the most important drawings of the human body ever made," said executive director Kathleen Bartels at the preview. "They're really stunning achievements in both art and science."

The exhibition's curator, Martin Clayton of the Royal Collection, said the 500-year-old drawings of everything from tongues and throats to the leg muscles and bone are so precise and well-executed that they are still used for study by surgeons today."But this is the first time in the 500 years that they have been presented in their entirety," he said of the Mechanics of Man show."

Although the exhibit comprises 240 individual drawings and 13,000 scrawled notes, they are squeezed onto 18 sheets of original paper, most of which have sketches on both sides.

The VAG has displayed them between sheets of glass, so that visitors can look at the two sides, as well as see the rough edges of the impeccably preserved paper.

Elsewhere, blown-up sheets translate some of Leonardo Da Vinci's writing, which, on the original drawings is written backwards.

Clayton disputed any notions it was meant as some secret script: more likely, he said, the left-handed artist found it easier to write that way, and didn't want to smudge his ink.

The show is accompanied by Visceral Bodies, a group show of contemporary artists who have explored the human form. Included are works by Kate Craig, Betty Goodwin, Shelagh Keeley, Gabriel de la Mora, Mona Hatoum, and Kiki Smith.

Combined with the opening of Visions of British Columbia: A Landscape Manual, as well as three outdoor installations, they mark the first time the VAG has opened six shows at once, Bartels said.