A COLLECTION of art treasures spanning five centuries will go on display in Glasgow next year.

Essence of Beauty: 500 years of Italian art, features work from the late 14th century onwards by artists such as, Bellini, Titian, Rosa and Botticelli, as well as unidentified artists.

It is the first time the collection will be displayed together.

The exhibition will open at the city's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on April 6 and run until August 12.

It is described as a chronological exploration of Glasgow's collection of Italian art paintings.

A spokesman for Glasgow Life said gallery visitors will get the opportunity to understand the range of art created during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, through the inclusion of decorative armour, sculpture, Venetian glass and ceramics.

The collection is made up of around 140 works but only 46 will be shown at Kelvingrove.

Major conservation work is being conducted by Glasgow Museums to prepare the paintings for the exhibition before they are taken to England and then the US.

Glasgow Life chairman, George Redmond, said: "Glasgow's collection is the envy of cities the world over and our holding of paintings is thought to be among the most significant held by a civic collection.

"Never before has so many of our masterpieces been on display in one exhibition alongside many other works that were created at the same time."

Patricia Collins, Glasgow Museums curator of medieval and Renaissance art, said the exhibition had been planned in order to create an academic catalogue of Italian art.

She said: "What better way to do it than to show people some of the paintings.

"We want to not just show the paintings and objects in the exhibition but to put them in some historical context as well.

"It will provide some background about the church, for example, in the early period and up to the end of the 19th century when photography entered the scene, and you've got a kind of rival, as it were, to painting."

The Glasgow Life spokesman said members of the public are being asked to donate money towards the conservation work.

Archbishop Mario Conti, an ambassador for the appeal, said: "This marvellous collection of paintings belongs to all of the citizens of Glasgow.

"We should be proud of that. But clearly, without government funding, which is given to national galleries but not civic galleries, it really depends upon the citizens to ensure the heritage is maintained.

"I have been delighted to follow the extensive preparatory work in pulling this marvellous display together and I look forward to seeing it open."