On January 17, London’s National Gallery will send Edouard Manet’s ‘The Execution of Maximilian’ on a tour of the UK. The painting is the first work to embark on the three-year Masterpiece Tour, which is part of the National Gallery’s commitment to promote the understanding, knowledge and appreciation of Old Master paintings. In 2015, Canaletto’s ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal’ will join the Masterpiece Tour, followed by Rembrandt’s ‘Self Portrait at the Age of 63’ in 2016.

‘The Execution of Maximilian’ depicts the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian being executed alongside two of his generals. Mexican forces captures Maximilian, who was installed in Mexico as a puppet emperor by Napoleon III when Napoleon withdrew his French troops who had been occupying Mexico. After its completion in 1868, the painting was cut into smaller pieces, some of which were sold individually. Edgar Degas eventually purchased all of the surviving fragments and reassembled them on a single canvas.

‘The Execution of Maximilian’ will be on view at the Beaney House of Art & Knowledge through March 16. It will then travel to the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle (March 22-May 18) and the Mead Gallery at the University of Warwick (September 27-December 6).