Titian, Caravaggio and Tintoretto are among the Italian masters taking a 3,000-km rail trip to cities across the country this month on a specially fitted train that doubles as a mobile art gallery.
Sponsored by national rail company Ferrovie dello Stato, the 'art train' contains 130 works from private collections chosen by curators to give an overview of 500 years of Italian painting - from the 16th century to contemporary street art.
The train set off from Rome's Termini Station on 1 October and will visit 22 cities during its 40-day voyage, pulling in at stations for a day or two so that people can jump aboard and appreciate the works on show.
Explaining the philosophy behind the initiative, curator-in-chief Antonio Maria Pivetta said that since only 10% of Italians habitually visit galleries, museums and exhibitions, "art must go to meet the people".
The train will travel as far south as Siracusa on the coast of Sicily and as far north as Bergamo in Lombardy before arriving at its final destination, Milan's Porta Garibaldi Station, on 10 November.
Most of the cities on the itinerary are in central and southern Italy, where people live furthest away from large museums and galleries with important collections.
"The itinerant museum will visit many of the cities that are often geographically penalized from taking part in major cultural events and will take art directly to the heart of the regions," Pivetta said.
There is no charge to board the train, and Pivetta hopes that low-wage families who would not usually visit museums and galleries because of entry costs will be among those taking advantage of the project.
"Visitors should represent a vertical section of our society including all classes and levels of culture and income," he said.
The train is made up of six carriages, each focusing on a separate period and curated by a different expert.
The first carriage contains masterpieces from the 16th and 17th centuries including Titian's "Concert Champêtre" (1509-1510) and Caravaggio's "Rest on The Flight into Egypt" (1595-1596), all displayed safely behind protective glass.
Works by Todeschini and Canaletto are among those representing the 18th century in the second carriage, while the third concentrates on 19th century painters including Antonio Mancino, Giuseppe De Nittis and Giulio Aristide Sartorio.
Art of the 20th century is featured in the fourth and fifth carriages, and includes paintings by Giulio Turcato, Giorgio De Chirico and Mimmo Rotella.
The sixth and final carriage is dedicated to contemporary art and includes Marco Lodola's perspex and neon "Ballerina" (2007) as well as a selection of street art, with works by graffiti artists Bros, Airone, Led, KayOne and Atomo.
This is the second year running that the art train has made a trip around Italy, although last year only works from the past 50 years were on display.
Nevertheless, 61,000 people climbed on to take a look, making the art train the fourth most popular museum in Italy that month.
This year Pivetta hopes to attract 250,000 people aboard with the wider selection of paintings.
"Our dream is to take the train to Europe next year and then to the United States in 2009 with a 'mythical' coast-to-coast trip from New York to Los Angeles, Pivetta said.
"Italy's real asset is art: it makes us richer than anyone and is worth more than petrol, gas, uranium or gold," he added.
"From Titian to Street Art: 500 years of Italian Art" is at stations around Italy until 10 November.
