A PRICELESS painting by a Renaissance master worth millions of pounds is to go on show at a County Durham museum next year.

Arguably, the highlight of the 2005 calendar at the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, will be the loan of Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks from April to June.

The tiny painting is one of the most important Renaissance art treasures in the country.

It will be returning to the North-East after being sold earlier this year to the National Gallery by the Duke of Northumberland for £22 million.

The gallery bought the 29cmx23cm painting following an export ban when the Duke threatened to sell it to the J Paul Getty Trust in California for nearly £35 million.

Lesley Taylor, the chairman of the Friends of the Bowes Museum, and one of the museum's trustees, said: "Part of the agreement when it was sold was that the painting would be shown in a number of different venues.

"We're obviously very pleased that we have been chosen to host it."

The museum is hoping the 2005 calendar will follow up on the success of this year, where exhibitions of work by Monet and Toulouse-Lautrec helped attract record visitor numbers.

In March 2005, the British museum is loaning over 300 artefacts including archaeological finds from Egypt and the Sudan and recent discoveries spanning from the Neolithic period to the 11th century. The 'Sudan: Ancient Treasures' exhibition will run until January 2006.

Mrs Taylor added: "The Sudan treasures is another exhibition that's going to be amazing.

"It's another example of top-class exhibitions coming to Barnard Castle, which we're delighted about for the museum and also for Teesdale as it's really putting the area on the map."

The Bowes Museum's 2005 calendar begins in January with an exhibition dedicated to Francois Boucher, the 18th century Rococo French painter.

As well as a selection of Boucher's landscapes the exhibition will contain drawings from artists including Watteau, Fragonard, Natoire and Robert.

Starting in February an exhibition dedicated to Norman Parkinson, 'Portraits of Fashion', will feature a selection of Parkinson's fashion photography which concentrated on the style and glamour of the 1950s. This will be complemented with fashionable dress from the era taken from the museum's own collection.

An exhibition devoted to English Romantic Painter, John Sell Cotman begins in May and runs until July. The collection will look at the young Cotman's series of water-colours based on the River Greta, in Teesdale, and its surroundings.

Finally, an exhibition on Art Nouveau is being planned for August 2005 until January 2006.