An Albanian artist gained himself an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records by making the biggest portrait ever.

Saimir Strati, 40, used nearly 500,000 industrial nails to do a three-dimensional portrait of Italian master Leonardo De Vinci on an eight square meter surface, according to Scott Christie, a Guinness jury member.

"This is not just the biggest painting, it also has artistic value as the most beautiful done so far by an artist," art critic Zija Cela told the AFP.

The artist toiled for 14 hours everyday for 24 days overseen by specialists and cameras.

The portrait was made in the hall of the onetime museum of the communist dictator Enver Hoxha.