An interactive Renaissance exhibit will see Kiwis get up close and personal with 500 masterpieces from the period when it comes to Auckland next year.
Renaissance: The Age of Genius will see crowds transported into famous works of art from 10 great artists from the 15th and 16th centuries, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
International Renaissance art expert Chris Longhurst told Seven Sharp the period was about "a return to the importance of the human person as the centre of civilisation".
"Remember we're coming out of a Europe, the Middle Ages, which was a very religious time and where art was rather flat."
While it began with art in Northern Italy, it soon "spills over into science, spills over into architecture".
The immersive experience will see the works come to life through large-scale projections thanks to digital media pioneers from Ukraine.
"Most of the original masterpieces of the Renaissance masters are small in size," Renaissance: The Age of Genius' Polina Shympf explained.
"With the help of motion graphics and animation, these artworks can be enjoyed, in our case, in size twice the human height. This allows our visitors to consider very little details."
The exhibit will be held at Auckland's Aotea Centre from January 4 to 29.
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