The painting 'Judith and Holofernes' which forms part of the national collection will be featuring prominently at the Louvre Museum in Paris in a major retrospective exhibition entitled, Valentin de Buologne: Beyond Caravaggio.

This masterpiece was depicted by the French seventeenth artist, Valentin de Buologne (1591-1632). The greatest French follower of Caravaggio was one of the outstanding artists in the 17^th century Europe and following Caravaggio's death, he emerged as one of the most original protagonists of the new, naturalistic painting.

The painting was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until the 16^th of January and was transferred to Paris to be on display at the Louvre between the 20^th of February and the 22^nd of May. The exhibition is commemorating this outstanding artist by devoting a monographic exhibition. His works are very rare with only 60 paintings attributed to the painter. This exhibition is bringing together 45 masterpieces by this artist and features 'Judith and Holfernes', which is currently under the guardianship of Heritage Malta and which eventually will be exhibited in the ongoing project MUŻA.

The painting's display at the Louvre coincides with the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Louvre Museum possesses the most important and extensive body of Valentin's works.

This is an exceptional loan from Heritage Malta's museum collection which was, incidentally, also loaned to the previous and last international exhibition about French followers of Caravaggio, including Valentin de Buologne, held at the French Academy, Rome, and the Grand Palais, Paris in 1973.