A gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum, featuring collections by legendary artists such as Matisse and Vuillard, will reopen on 1 February after a period of major renovation work.

The exhibition space has been famed since the nineteenth century for its three striking roof domes, which bathe the masterpieces in natural light. The University of Cambridge Architecture Department has worked with museum renovators to ensure a balance is struck between phenomenal illumination and preservation of the fragile paintings.

Gallery 1 has been closed to visitors for a year but will redisplay works by Bonnard, Augustus John and William Nicholson in a whole new light.

A darker hue to the gallery walls and refurbished marble columns will create an atmosphere to accentuate arrangements, for example exemplifying the controversy of Stanley Spencer’s Love Among the Nations.

Visitors will be encouraged to marvel at enigmatic pieces like Orpen’s Girl With a Tattered Glove whilst considering the seldom-acknowledged artistic and personal connections between the creators exhibited.

“The gallery has never looked better,” declared Fitzwilliam Director, Dr Timothy Potts. “Gallery 1 is the latest in an on-going series of reinstallations of the Fitzwilliam’s collections that allow us to bring new works on display and provide updated and expanded information.”

To mark the triumphant homecoming of some of late-nineteenth century Europe’s most celebrated paintings, sculptures and manuscripts, the Museum has created a programme of weekly discussions as well as ‘Insight’ sessions in private study rooms.

Gallery 1 is located in the original Founder’s Building of the internationally reputable museum. The Fitzwilliam houses half a million works of art, including works of genius by Monet, Renoir and Picasso, which are visited by 300 000 people each year.