Salvador Dali's Christ painting packed for loan

Frames Conservator Sophie Kostin (left) and Painting Conservator Suzanne Ross with the painting at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre

One of Scotland's most famous paintings - Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross, which usually hangs in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery, is being prepared to go on loan.

The painting is to feature in the Dali/Duchamp exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

It has been unframed to allow for inspection before being packed.

Henry Raeburn's Boy and Rabbit will go on show at Kelvingrove as part of a reciprocal loan agreement.

Cllr David McDonald said Christ of St John of the Cross would be one of the main attractions of the Dali/Duchamp exhibition, which opens on 7 October.

"Glasgow is proud of its extensive art collection, considered by many to be amongst the finest in Europe.

"By working with respected institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts we continue to strengthen our reputation and are able to bring outstanding works of art, such as Raeburn's Boy and Rabbit, to Kelvingrove this autumn."

Artist's grandchild

The Dali/Duchamp exhibition aims to throw light on the relationship between the father of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, and Surrealist Salvador Dali.

The exhibition, which will bring together more than 60 works, is to travel to The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida, from February to May 2018.

Christ of St John of the Cross will return to the Kelvingrove in summer 2018 where it is expected to be on display for more than a year, before going on loan again.

It is due to go to Auckland Castle, County Durham, in autumn 2019.

The painting, which was bought by the City of Glasgow for £8,200 in 1952, will then return to Kelvingrove in spring 2020.

An image of the painting will remain in the space at Kelvingrove.

Boy and Rabbit will hang in the portrait section of the Looking at Art gallery in Kelvingrove from September until May 2018.

The painting is of the artist's grandchild, Henry Raeburn Inglis, with his pet rabbit.

The boy was deaf and the work is about the senses, particularly the importance of touch in the relationship between the child and his pet.