LUCKNOW: If you wonder what the surroundings of the Imambara and Clock Tower looked nearly a century back or what was the scene when Akbar addressed his court, a visit to the Lucknow University ’s upcoming Art Gallery and Museum will give you the picture.The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has restored 451 about 100-year-old rare paintings and sculptures belongin to LU’s Tagore library which will be on display for the public soon after renovation of the exhibition hall is complete. These antique pictures were lying packed since 1975. Funds for restoration of the rare collection were sanctioned by the ministry of culture in 2014 and work began in 2015.The library was gifted its first rare collection in 1935 by Gorakhpur Barrister D N Bonerjee. “The original paintings by Abdur Rahman Chughtai and the exhibits were donated to the Lucknow University by D N Bonerjee 82 years ago after which it was decided to establish an art gallery in the library,” deputy librarian Jyoti Mishra told TOI.The collection includes, besides Chughtai, the work of Asit Kumar Haldar , Nand Lal Bose and several other artists. The painting like Akbar’s court in Fatehpur Sikri by A K Haldar, another picture of a woman with a child in her lap by M L Haldar, and the painting of a young lady with a shadow by Sudhir Khastigir are among masterpieces created nearly a century ago.Talking about the collection, honorary librarian Aroop Chakrobarti said the Tagore Gallery collection got enriched further after the former vice-chancellor and honorary librarian Radha Kamal Mukherjee donated his personal collection comprising work of Indian artists of the 1940s to the library. He said a large number of artefacts comprise the contribution of a professor from West Bengal.SMH Rizvi who has been cataloguing the library books and taking care of the collection for the last 25 years said the collection comprises not only rare painting but also valuable exhibits like a prototype of Tagore Library designed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin, who had also designed the Australian city of Canberra. Griffin had included in his design for the library a clock tower but that could not be made after Grifin died in 1937, leaving the plan incomplete. The clock tower is very much a part of the library building’s model which has also been restored and will be on display in the exhibition.“Renovation of the museum and gallery will soon be complete so that the university can open it for display,” said vice chancellor S P Singh.