Canberra hosts the Italian masters no crisis can keep down

ITALY may be limping politically and financially, but the Renaissance exhibition is a vivid reminder of the country's contribution to culture.

Ron Radford

ITALY may be limping politically and financially, but the National Gallery of Australia's new exhibition of 71 artworks by major Renaissance painters is a vivid reminder of the country's sizeable contribution to culture.

Pictures by 15th- and 16th-century artists Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Bellini and others never before taken out of Europe will hang in the NGA's Renaissance exhibition until April 9.

The works are on loan from Italy's Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, a town in Italy's north about halfway between Milan and Verona.

Bergamo's counsellor for arts Claudia Santirani said during the five years until 2013, while the Accademia Carrara is being renovated, works are being loaned to various European cities.

But this exhibition, curated by the team led by NGA director Ron Radford, is the only one to have been created exclusively from the Bergamo collection.

"In Italy we are very jealous for our jewels and we were afraid for this journey," Ms Santirani said.

Italy's beleaguered economy has forced Italians to exploit their resources.

"When things are difficult, people become more enterprising," she said.

Ms Santirani is hoping this exhibition, which opens today, will inspire Australians to visit Italy.

Mr Radford, on the other hand, just wants Australians to visit Canberra.

Renaissance is the first blockbuster staged by the gallery since it established a new high-water mark for paid exhibition attendance two years ago, when 476,000 people turned out to see Masterpieces from Paris, works from the Musee d'Orsay.

Australian Capital Tourism contributed $500,000 towards marketing that show and will contribute the same amount towards Renaissance.

Dr Radford said ticketing forcing attendees to book an arrival time had been introduced to ensure there was no repeat of the crowd-management problems that plagued the d'Orsay exhibition.

Assistant director Shanthini Naidoo could not reveal the total value of the works, some of which are considered masterpieces.

But she said for insurance purposes they were considered too valuable to be shipped aboard the same aircraft and were divided between four different flights.

Silvio Berlusconi's recent departure as prime minister was also felt at the gallery: a message from him due to run alongside one from Julia Gillard in the exhibition catalogue was scrapped at the last minute. Mario Monti, the new PM, now appears in the catalogue.