(16 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Movers transporting box containing Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Annunciation" into exhibition hall at the Tokyo National Museum
2. Close of the word "fragile" written on box
3. Various of workers unscrewing lid
4. Museum officials watching the box being opened
5. Zoom in on painting in open box
6. Close of painting
7. Movers taking painting out of box
8. Close up of architect from the Uffizi museum
9. Wide shot of Uffizi technicians inspecting painting
10. Architect comparing the painting to the photo of the painting
11. Pan of Gabriel in the painting
12. Painting being set up by museum workers
13. Various of museum workers screwing the painting on wall
14. Close up of the Virgin Mary in painting
15. Museum technician brushing dust off painting
16. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Roberto Boddi, Climate Technician, Uffizi Museum:
"There are always problems to be concerned about (in transporting an important item) but here it is in a calm environment and I am less worried in comparison to other situations I have experienced in the past."
17. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Antonio Godoli, architect of Uffizi gallery
"We verified the condition of the painting is the same as when it left (Italy). We are talking about the National Museum in Tokyo and about the room where Leonardo's Mona Lisa was displayed."
18. Wide of the painting
19. Wide of the exhibition hall
STORYLINE
Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Annunciation" is being prepared for display at Japan's National Museum in Tokyo, despite protests in Italy.
The 6.5 foot by 3 foot (nearly 2 metres by 1 metre) painting arrived in Japan on Wednesday in three protective crates filled with shock-absorbers and high-tech sensors to monitor humidity, temperatures and stress levels.
"The Annunciation" travelled 12 hours by plane and one hour-and-a-half on the mover's truck and finally arrived at the museum to the relief of all the officials involved in the project.
Mario Bova, the Italian Ambassador to Japan, said the journey had gone well.
The 15th century masterpiece will be shown from March 20 to June 17 as part of "Italian Spring" - a series of events promoting Italian culture and products.
Outside light has been shut out of the exhibition room and it is being displayed in a 51,000 US dollar crystal showcase designed in Germany to provide security and preservation.
The painting will be displayed on an earthquake resistant construction.
The move has stirred up controversy in the world of Italian art, where conflicts over the management of the country's cultural treasures are frequent and loans of masterpieces to foreign countries cause considerable anxiety.
Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli decided to loan the priceless masterpiece to Tokyo National Museum and since June of 2006, Japanese and Italian researchers, museum officials, and architects from the Uffizi museum dedicated their time to figuring out how to bring the painting to Japan safely.
"The Annunciation" is one of Leonardo's early works, painted between 1472-1475, when the master was in his early 20s. It depicts the archangel Gabriel revealing to the Virgin Mary that she is pregnant.
It has been taken out of Italy once before to be displayed in Paris in 1935. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was displayed in the same exhibition room of the Tokyo National museum in 1974.
"The Annunciation" is insured for more than 132 (m) million US dollars.
Keyword-art
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