The lush blues, greens, pinks and purples of Claude Monet's Water Lilies series are at the heart of a Milan exhibition which explores the French impressionist's relationship with Japanese art.
The exhibit, on show at Palazzo Reale, stars 20 works from Monet's renowned Water Lilies, or Nymphaes, cycle of oil paintings.
The paintings were completed between 1900 and 1923, as Monet grew increasingly obsessed with capturing the spirit and light of the elusive blooms.
In 1925, the year before his death at the age of 86, Monet wrote of his obsession: ''I no longer sleep because of them.
''At night I torture myself thinking about what I am trying to create. Last autumn, I burned six canvases along with the dry leaves from the garden. But I don't want to die without saying what I have to say''.
The 20 works mark an extraordinary loan from the Marmottan Museum in Paris. Although the museum has the world's largest collection of Water Lily paintings, it has never before loaned out so many for one show.
However, the exhibit will not just focus on the paintings themselves, it will also seek to put them in context.
The artwork will be flanked with photographs of the magnificent garden Monet created in the village of Giverny, where he lived from 1883 until his death.
The images offer another insight into the garden where Monet spent so many hours trying to recreate nature: its wisteria vine, tiny bridge, trees, cherry blossoms and the lily-covered pond.
The lush, overgrown photographs of the garden contrast with the delicate, controlled nature of the Japanese art Monet was exploring at the same time.
On show are 56 prints renowned Japanese ukiyo-e artists Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, on loan from Paris's Guimet Museum.
The exhibition will also provide the opportunity to enjoy an extremely rare selection of priceless hand-painted photographs of Japanese gardens from the 1800s, on loan from a private Italian collection.
'Monet e il Giappone. Il tempo delle Ninfee' ('Monet and Japan. The Age of the Water Lilies) can be visited at Palazzo Reale until September 27.
