The Renaissance spirit

Another important painting in the exhibition is Adoration of the Magi, which Botticelli created around 1475. The painting stands out among a series of works of the same subject not only because it established Botticelli's fame in Florence and marked a high point in his early artistic career, but also because Botticelli himself is featured in it — as a young man on the far right of the work, his back turned to the worshipping crowd.

For the exhibition, Tix-Media made high-resolution copies of Birth of Venus and Primavera, two of Botticelli's most celebrated creations, as the originals are not allowed to leave the borders of Italy. After receiving authorization from the Uffizi Galleries, artists appointed by the institution took thousands of photographs of the original paintings before making copies of the same size as the original.

They then added final touches to the copies to replicate the original strokes.

"This is the best way we can experience these beautiful paintings without flying to Florence," says Wang Wenhui, a visitor at the preview last week. "Because they are copies, we can stand close by and observe the details that are so vivid and so striking."