It remains one of Scotland's most treasured paintings, a dramatic depiction of a vision of Christ which is one of the treasures of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Now Salvador Dalí's Christ of St John of the Cross is to go on loan for the first time in seven years.

The painting, purchased by the city in a far-sighted deal by the city for £8200 in the early 1950s, is to travel to the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London in September.

It will then travel to the Dalí Museum in St Petersburg, Florida, US, where it will be on display from February to May next year.

The painting will return to Kelvingrove next summer and then go on loan again, to Auckland Castle in County Durham, from the autumn of 2019 to the spring of 2020.

Painted in 1951 and purchased by the City of Glasgow in 1952, Christ of St John of the Cross - a dramatic depiction of the crucified Christ which features no thorns, nails or wounds - continues to be one of the draws for the million people who visit Kelvingrove Museum each year.

The painting will be one of the main exhibits of the forthcoming Dalí/Duchamp show at the Royal Academy, opening on 7 October.

The show is the first exhibition to highlight the relationship between Dali and one of the seminal figures of conceptual art, the French artist Marcel Duchamp.

Sir Henry Raeburn’s Boy and Rabbit, from the RA collection, will go on show at Kelvingrove Museum as part of a reciprocal loan agreement.

The portrait depicts the artist’s grandchild, Henry Raeburn Inglis, with his pet rabbit.

It will bring together more than 60 works with art from galleries and collections in Spain, New York, Paris and London.

Christ of Saint John of the Cross will be at the heart of this exhibition, Glasgow Museum said, and "central to its key themes, particularly myth, the relationship between science and religion, and perspective."

Duncan Dornan, head of Glasgow Museums, said: "The iconic Christ of St John of the Cross will be a highlight of this summer’s Dalí/Duchamp exhibition at the RA in London and then the Dalí Museum in Florida.

"Showing this artwork in a new context and considering it in a way we might not otherwise have had the opportunity to do so, enables us to gain a new perspective on the inventive and intelligent man who created this Glasgow treasure, before it goes back on show at Kelvingrove in the summer of 2018."

He added: "Glasgow’s art collection is considered one of the finest in Europe and loaning key pieces increases access to the works so that people across the country and indeed the world can enjoy them, bolstering our reputation.

"These partnerships also allow visitors to Kelvingrove to enjoy striking artworks from other important collections, such as the wonderful Raeburn painting, Boy and Rabbit, that will be on display in Kelvingrove this autumn."

Tim Marlow, artistic director of the Royal Academy of Arts, said: “We are delighted and grateful that Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum has agreed to loan such a major work.

"Showing Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross together with seminal works by Duchamp will be one of the undoubted highlights of the Royal Academy’s forthcoming Dali/Duchamp exhibition."

It is the first time Christ of St John of the Cross has been on loan since 2010.

It featured in Salvador Dalí: The Late Work, an important exhibition focusing on Dalí’s later career at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, USA.

Raeburn’s Boy and Rabbit depicts the artist’s grandchild, Henry Raeburn Inglis, with his pet rabbit.

Boy and Rabbit will hang in the portrait section of the Looking at Art gallery in Kelvingrove Museum from September 2017 until May 2018.