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Life-size replicas of famous paintings on display

BBC A range of paintings on display in a small room at Angel Place in BridgwaterBBC
The replicas give people a chance to see versions of the paintings without travelling to London

Versions of world-famous works of art from the likes of Caravaggio, Turner and Michelangelo have gone on display in a shopping centre.

People can see the life-size digitally scanned reproductions at Angel Place in Bridgwater, Somerset.

The exhibition is part of celebrations marking 200 years of the National Gallery in London.

It's a joint project between the famous art institution and Somerset community arts organisation Seed.

Scott O'Hara stands smiling beside a Turner painting. He is wearing a light brown jacket and a red T-shirt with red and blue writing on it
Scott O'Hara, director of Seed, said the paintings are "incredibly accurate" replicas

Scott O'Hara, Director of Seed, said the paintings are "as close to the real thing as you can get."

He said "These are scanned with a very high-quality digital scanner that the gallery has. It takes over a day to scan some of these pictures."

The pictures are then reproduced at the original size and even include replica frames for an extra touch of authenticity.

Mr O'Hara added "We've got reproductions of about £65 million worth of paintings here in an old greengrocers in Angel Place shopping centre."

Two women stand looking at a painting in Angel Place in Bridgwater
Artist educator Alex Bowie from the National Gallery is also giving talks about the artworks

Alex Bowie, an artist educator from the National Gallery has been running creative workshops in the town centre from a travelling 'art van'.

She's also been giving talks to encourage visitors to look at the art in a different way.

She said the National Gallery wants to help people "get to know" its collection because "not everyone can go to London, and not everyone wants to go to London."

Ms Bowie added "it's really important that we pop up in communities and it's really exciting to be down here in Bridgwater."

A man stands facing the camera beside a Caravggio painting. He is smiling and wearing a grey polo top
Paul Rudler said having access to work from artists like Caravaggio was "amazing"

Both the exhibition and the creative workshops have been well received by visitors.

Resident Paul Rudler said he was pleasantly surprised when he stumbled across the display.

He said "Obviously the National Gallery is quite far away, and you don't always have the chance to get there, so it's quite nice that this is put on.

"And it's free, so it's accessible for people."

The exhibition is on until Monday 7 October.

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