Crowning moment for cognoscente of Italian Baroque

An impressive example of the work of the artist Annibale Carracci, the most gifted of the Italian family of painters, opens to the public at the National Gallery tomorrow.

The Coronation of the Virgin, one of Carracci's most serene and classical paintings, goes on show in the Sainsbury Wing as part of the "Discovering the Italian Baroque" exhibition, drawn from the collection of Sir Denis Mahon, the art historian and collector who recently announced that 61 of his art works would go to museums and galleries in the United Kingdom after his death.

The exhibition of 79 paintings and 30 drawings continues until 18 May and includes works by Reni, Poussin, Domenichino, and Guercino. Three paintings which were sold in the 1970s - including The Coronation of the Virgin - have been lent to the National Gallery for the show. The Mahon collection, begun in the mid-1930s when the works of 17th century Italian painters were unfashionable, is considered the finest collection of 17th and 18th century Italian paintings formed in Britain this century.