ROME - ONE of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch, is to go back on display at a gallery in Florence after 10 years of restoration work.

The colours in the painting, which shows a Madonna surrounded by Jesus and John the Baptist as children, caressing a bird against a pastoral background, had faded with time, said a statement from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Thanks to the latest available technology including X-rays, ultra-violet fluorescence, and infra-rouge imaging, restorers were able to restore the original colours to the painting.

It will be on show until March 1 of next year at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, before returning to its regular home at the Uffizi.

The painting was painted in 1506 on a commission from a Florentine merchant for his marriage. A landslide in 1547 brought down the merchant's house, smashing the painting into 17 different pieces.

It was restored and then sold on to Cardinal Giovanni Carlo De Medicis in 1639. It first went on display at the Uffizi in 1704. -- AFP