June 20 - Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "The Annunciation", which shows the Virgin Mary receiving the news that she will be Jesus's mother, was being displayed at Tokyo for the three months being one the greatest art attraction in Japan in the last 30 years, It now returns home to Florence.

The painting, which had not been out of Florence's Uffizi gallery since World War II, was viewed by 800,000 people during its three months as the centerpiece of a show entitled "The Mind of Leonardo".

Among the last people to see the painting in Japan was the Empress Michiko, the 74-year-old wife of the country's emperor Akihito. The empress was obviously emotional by seeing the famous painting.

Painted between 1472-1475, when Leonardo was barely out of his teens, it shows The archangel Gabriel kneeling in a dignified profile figure and raising his right hand in greeting to Mary, indicating her divine pregnancy. The Virgin has stopped reading and reacts to the Annunciation with an expression of deep respect by gesturing with her left hand.

"This was the most successful foreign art exhibition in the last 30 years," said Italian ambassador Mario Bova, who accompanied the empress on her visit to the Ueno museum in Tokyo on Sunday.

After the visit, the painting was packaged with extreme care, just as it was for the outgoing journey in March, and on Wednesday it left Japan aboard an Alitalia plane scheduled to land in Rome by early evening.

When the painting travelled from Italy to Japan, it was housed in a high-tech packing case including Japanese-made sensors to detect any variation in position, temperature and humidity. Italian experts are expected to examine the masterpiece thoroughly on its arrival to check that its condition has not been affected by its three months on the other side of the world.

Back in March there were protests against the painting being allowed to leave Italy. Ambassador Bova said this showed how much Italians were attached to their artistic heritage.

The Annunciation, which has been insured for 100 million euros, was housed in a special glass and aluminium frame while in Tokyo. It stood in the same room that received the Mona Lisa in the 1970s.

The Annunciation has left the Uffizi only three times before: for Paris and Milan in the 1930s and for safekeeping during the Second World War.