Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks is about to embark on a year-long, nationwide tour.

The masterpiece was acquired by the National Gallery earlier this year – with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund – and has so far been exhibited at Manchester Art Gallery.

It will stay at Manchester until 27 June, before being put on show at the National Museum & Gallery in Cardiff (3 July – 19 September), the National Gallery, London (20 October 2004 – 16 January 2005), the McLellan Galleries in Glasgow (29 January – 10 April 2005) and The Bowes Museum in County Durham (16 April – 26 June 2005).

Throughout the tour, it will be exhibited alongside two other interpretations of the same subject – Ghirlandaio’s Virgin and Child and Titian’s The Virgin and Child.

Madonna of the Pinks was painted between 1506 and 1507, while Ghirlandaio’s work dates back to the 1480’s. Titian painted his version between 1565 and 1570.

Together, the three pictures will show how painted renditions of the Mother and Child theme progressed over a century, while demonstrating the achievement of the Renaissance movement in accentuating the humanity of the familiar subject.