The bustling departures hall at Milan's Malpensa airport is hosting an unusual guest this summer: a 1907 painting by Spanish master Pablo Picasso.
La Femme Nue appeared in Malpensa's Terminal 1 on Wednesday, the star of a new exhibition space designed to make the airport a more welcoming place for travellers.
The painting, a preparatory piece for the more famous Demoiselles d'Avignon, was unveiled on Wednesday morning, much to the curiosity of passersby.
It is among a series of works going on display in the new exhibition space.
The "Malpensa Museum", as officials have named the area, is a long, white corridor, dotted with four white leather sofas.
The paintings are flanked by a series of panels containing information about the works on show.
According to organizers, the large white structure is intended to offer an "oasis of calm" in a hectic section of the airport, surrounded by ticket offices and windows overlooking the runways.
Giuseppe Bonomi, the head of the company that manages Milan's two airports, SEA, said he was delighted with the initiative.
Describing it as the "ideal meeting spot" for visitors to the airport, he said SEA was happy "to provide passengers and the Milan area with opportunities not strictly linked to air activities".
Although the Picasso will be returned to its permanent home in Milan's Civic Collection of Art on August 5, the exhibit will continue.
A fresh batch of 26 works of art, on loan from the Foreign Ministry's prestigious collection, will arrive in the airport on August 25.
This next show will run until January 2008 but organizers are hoping to extend the initiative.
If all goes according to plan, a series of rolling exhibits could get under way next year ahead of the 2015 Expo.
Milan is vying with the Turkish city of Izmir for the honour of hosting the 2015 event, the winner of which will be announced in February 2008.
