Supplied: National Gallery of Australia
)One of the most famous artworks in the world will call Canberra home for the next three months with the arrival of a new exhibition from the walls of one of Europe's top galleries.
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) has welcomed Van Gogh's Sunflowers, a work that, like many other masterpieces, really only comes to life when it shares a room with its viewer.
The show, Botticelli to Van Gogh, includes works from many of the finest European artists of the past 500 years.
It represents a world first for the gallery and was described by curator Sally Foster as a "roll call of the most important artists in Western art history".
But its arrival was hard-won, after the pandemic threw up a number of logistical challenges and delayed its opening by a year.
ABC News: Greg Nelson
)A crash course in art history
Supplied: National Gallery of Australia
)With European travel currently off the cards, the exhibition has brought some of London's star attractions to Australian shores.
And it has the ambitious aim of teaching viewers about the seven defining periods of European art history in one gallery.
Showcased are works by artists such as Titian, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Canaletto, Turner, Renoir, Cézanne, Monet and Gauguin.
It is a grand tour which begins by taking the viewer into the Italian Renaissance through the exhibit's oldest painting, Paulo Uccello's Saint George and the Dragon.
It also circles past a number of pieces in the Renaissance gallery which highlight the powerful influence religion had over art at that time.
Supplied: National Gallery of Australia
)Meanwhile, paintings like Sandro Botticelli's Four Scenes From The Early Life Of Saint Zenobius take visitors into the heart of 15th century Italy.
Also among them, the signature attraction that is Rembrandt's striking Self Portrait At The Age Of 34, a piece straight out of the Dutch Golden Age, which spanned much of the 17th century.
Much like Sunflowers, Rembrandt's painting seduces the viewer with its detail, asking them to look into the eyes of the artist.
COVID-19 casts works in a whole new light
ABC News: Greg Nelson
)After a challenging period, the NGA has secured the first international touring show of the National Gallery in London, which opened in 1824.
The exhibition was delayed for 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a logistical nightmare, only heightened by the value of some of the pieces.
Its opening in Australia comes after months of challenging work, National Gallery of Australia director Nick Mitzevich said.
"From the crating, to the transportation, to when the works arrive in the building and how they are put on the walls."
Supplied: National Gallery of Australia
)But the delay offered up an unexpected opportunity for the curators.
They used the time to give the space a $5 million refurbishment that was designed to ensure each masterpiece would be lit to perfection.
Ms Foster agrees, saying the lighting adds another dimension to the exhibit, giving the viewer a unique experience.
"Many people will have travelled to London and they would have gone through those galleries — but they have never seen them displayed like we have displayed them," Ms Foster said.
The exhibition runs until the middle of June.
