It may have arrived in Wanganui by default, but a painting that has been on permanent show at the city's Sarjeant Gallery is finally off the wall.
Frederick Goodall's huge canvas, Flight Into Egypt, has been hanging in the Sarjeant since it opened in 1919 but now is out of its frame as part of the redevelopment project, which includes earthquake-strengthening and construction of a new wing.
Jennifer Taylor Moore, the gallery's curator of collections, said the 4.1-metre wide and 2.6m high painting was one of the biggest in New Zealand and one of the most culturally and financially valuable artworks in the Sarjeant collection.
But the fact it had been hanging in the gallery for the past 96 years meant it was in desperate need of conservation. Her next job is to get funding so the painting can sent to expert conservators in Auckland, while the frame goes to a specialist in Palmerston North.
The fragile layers of paint on the canvas need to be stabilised and the distinctive gilded decoration on the massive frame is unstable.
Ms Taylor Moore said it had undergone preservation work in 2010 but more extensive work was required.
Gallery photographer Richard Wotton has been taking images of the canvas, which will help the conservators with their job.
Ms Taylor Moore estimates the conservation project will cost about $50,000 and will take several years but the plan is to have it fully restored and back in the gallery in time for the re-opening in 2019.
Goodall painted Flight Into Egypt in 1884, and it was exhibited at that year's Royal Academy show in London, then sent to New Zealand for the Auckland Exhibition of 1913-14.
It stayed there as a result of World War I and the prohibitive cost of sending it back to England. It arrived in Wanganui in 1919, on loan for the opening of the gallery, and was then purchased for the collection in 1922.