The China Mail - Night at the museum: UK's National Gallery offering guest sleepover

When the Sainsbury Wing reopens after a two-year refurbishment on May 10, the overnight guest -- to be picked at random from a list of newsletter subscribers -- will wake up to breakfast in bed and the chance to explore the gallery before the crowds arrive.

The renovated wing will see some of earliest paintings in the collection rehoused -- a chapel-like room for Piero della Francesca's 15th-century "Baptism of Christ" and a new frame for Jacopo di Cione's 14th-century "San Pier Maggiore Altarpiece" -- while Paolo Uccello's "Battle Of San Romano" will be back after a three-year restoration process.

Western European paintings from the 13th to 20th centuries will be "completely redisplayed", the museum said, with dedicated rooms for works by artists including Monet, Titian, Rembrandt and Gainsborough.

- 'Wonder of art' -

The guest will spend the night in a bed near the paintings and take a private late-night tour with a gallery curator, before being allowed to roam about the following morning.

The gallery said the winner would be able to "see over 1,000 works of art, which trace the development of painting in the Western European tradition... from iconic masterpieces to paintings which have never previously been seen in the National Gallery".

"The carefully curated rehang will enable them to not only see their favourites returned to the walls, but also those paintings in the context of history," it said, calling the prize a chance to "experience the wonder of art".

The Sainsbury Wing opens to the public on May 10, and the gallery's competition is open until 1700 GMT on April 28.

Though the National Gallery said this would be its first official sleepover, it has hosted late-night events before.

On January 17, it announced it was opening through the night to give art lovers a final chance to see its blockbuster Vincent van Gogh exhibition, following a similar experiment in 2012 for a Leonardo da Vinci display.

The National Gallery, which is free to enter, was founded in 1824 and has a collection of more than 2,300 paintings.

W.Tam--ThChM