VICTORIA, BC.- The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria immerses visitors in the all-inclusive The Baroque Experience at the Victoria art museum through February 25, 2007. The impetus for The Baroque Experience is the anticipated arrival of Baroque Masterworks from the National Gallery of Canada. The Art Gallery will be host to 12 gorgeous rare 17th century Baroque masterpieces from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada. As works from this era are often fragile and rarely travel, the exhibition provides a rare and exciting opportunity for gallery visitors to see these national treasures. The Baroque was an opulent era of extravagance. The beautiful featured works contained in Baroque Masterworks from the National Gallery of Canada were painted between 1600 and 1730 by artists in different European countries, of varied economic, political and religious backgrounds; namely El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, Simon Vouet, Bernardo Cavallino, Nicolas Poussin. Works from the Baroque era invoke intrigue and emotion, beautifully highlighting their subjects in dramatic lighting and often telling a theatrical story through the character's expressions. While fascinating to academics through the ages, their work continues to be dramatic, sensuous and provocative to all beholders. (courtesy www.Artdaily.org)