The UK government is setting up a Website that will act as a gateway to around 150 individual museum Websites.

The new virtual gallery will give access to thousands of famous and not-so-famous images and also provide information about up to 3,000 museums and galleries.

Culture Minister Alan Howarth, who announced the plans, said: "The 24 Hour Museum will make it easy to use the technology of the future to access the treasures of the past."

Jackson Pollock (1912 - 56) - Naked Man with Knife c1938 - Pollock is the Tate's latest exhibition

Pictures on display could soon include such classics as Raphael's Madonna and Child, Botticelli's Venus and Mars, Renoir's At the Theatre and Van Gogh's Sunflowers .

Some museums are already keeping up with technology. The Tate Gallery currently displays 8,000 images of paintings and works of art online and it plans to expand its site further.

At the launch Mr Howarth also set out standards aimed at improving access to the nation's art treasures and announced a £15m boost to 43 major regional museums.

The Internet site, funded by a £70,000 government grant, will go live at the beginning of National Museums Week on 13 May.

The latest announcement comes after the government's introduction of guaranteed free entry for children to 32 national museums.

Pensioners are due to be given the same right from April 2000 and over the next three years the Culture Department plans to invest a total of £736.5m into museums and galleries.

Mr Howarth said: "Our museums and galleries are national and in some cases international treasure troves, safeguarding our natural heritage and the heritage of human creativity for the enjoyment of future generations.

"We want to ensure that as many as possible of the treasures they hold are not buried, but are open and on display to the public."