First look at Aidan Turner as Leonardo Da Vinci revealed

Footage giving a first look at Aidan Turner playing Leonardo Da Vinci has been released to mark the Italian painter's birthday.

Poldark star Turner is set to play the artist in the television series Leonardo, which will begin next year.

The clip, which contains footage from the series, shows Turner as the painter learning his craft as a young apprentice and also working on his commission to paint The Last Supper. Da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452.

The series was created by Frank Spotnitz, who was also the writer and executive producer for Amazon Prime series The Man In The High Castle.

It also features Family Novel star Giancarlo Giannini, who plays Da Vinci's master Andrea Del Verrocchio, and The Undoing's Matilda De Angelis as Caterina Da Cremona, Da Vinci's muse.

Eleonaro Andreatta, head of drama at Rai, which produced the programme, said: "Leonardo remains an inspirational figure around the world, and his ability to put together a prodigious synthesis of science and poetry, technology and art, is a reminder for us to trust in humanity's capacity to cope with the adversity it faces.

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"That's why we are excited to give to the public an insight into the tortured and captivating life he lived, and how his incredible vision has helped us to look to the future ever since the Renaissance."

Details of when the show will be on British screens have not yet been released.