Bangkok  - The organizer of an exhibition of more than 200 works by Italian artist Galileo Chini said it was a miracle it opened in Bangkok on Friday.

The Galileo Chini Exhibition @ Central Chidlom includes four paintings never seen in public and six shown only once previously in Rome, organizer Camillo Pellegatta said after the opening Friday.

Chini, 1873-1956, is known to many in Thailand for the works he did during his stay in the kingdom between 1911 and 1914. They include the dome frescoes of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in Bangkok and other Court of Siam buildings King Rama V commissioned him to paint.

But his work done outside Thailand is not known in the kingdom, Pellegatta said, and the exhibition is an introduction to that work.

"These cannot be seen in a museum. They are from seven private collections (in Italy), many never seen outside those collections," he said.

It took a year to put together, said Pellegatta, who lives about eight months a year in Thailand and the other four in his native Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

The exhibition is open until July 6 and also includes 120 photos never show before. It was organized to commemorate 140 years of Thai- Italian relations. (dpa)