WORCESTER, Mass. - A new exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum looks at the role of love in art with works dating back to the 1600s.

The “Love Stories” exhibit is from the National Portrait Gallery in London and features around 100 pieces from the English Renaissance to present day.

Some of the artwork may never travel outside of London again.

After many people spent the past year and a half away from loved ones, the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) says this is a moment to reflect on how portraits preserve memories.

"I think, in that way, portraiture is such a unique area of art making because it's a mode of recording,” Dr. Claire Whitner, director of curatorial affairs and curator of European art at WAM, said. “It's a way of projecting ourselves sort of across time and across space, and moving beyond the limitations of our particular historical moment."

The exhibition opens Saturday and runs through March 13, 2022, meaning it will be open on Valentine’s Day.