Russia lends tsars' treasures to Spain's Prado museum

Some of greatest treasures of the tsars will go on show in Madrid's Prado museum on Tuesday.

Russia has lent Spain around 180 works from the Hermitage, in St Petersburg, the vast museum that was once a showcase for the Russian royal family, and which later became a symbol of high culture in Soviet Russia. The loans include works by Rembrandt and Caravaggio, as well as Fabergé jewels, and gold objects dating from the fifth century BC. Also included in the exhibition are works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Kandinsky.

In a foreword to the catalogue, the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, says the collection represents "the pride and glory of civilisation's cultural heritage".