In the first week of March one of Castle Howard's more mysterious paintings began a complicated journey to Rome.

The large 16th-century portrait by Girolamo Bedoli known as The Dukes of Ferrara, or Two Noblemen at Prayer, was packed in a special crate and loaded by a team of eight onto a truck. At the other end of the journey the crate, too heavy to take up the many flights of steps at the Scuderie del Quirinale Gallery, will be winched indoors by a crane.

It will be on display as part of the Correggio e Parmigianino: Arte a Parma nel Cinquecento exhibition until 26 June 2016. The painting itself has an equally colourful history. It began life as two separate canvasses but at some point in the 16th century these were stitched together to make a single composition.

There are many awkward features in the picture: the odd angle of the architectural background, the introduction of an open book at the foot of the picture, and a dangling cord at the top, both designed to mask the join. It is thought that the two canvasses originated as decorations for organ shutters: when open the image would separate, when closed the kneeling figures would unite in a single picture.

The replica print, which will temporarily take the place of the original in the music room, will be cut in two with each half hung side by side to recreate the original composition of the painting.

It is hoped that new research in conjunction with the exhibition will reveal more about the picture.