The National Gallery posted a record 77% rise in visits to its website from 16 March to 5 April compared to the same period last year.

The presentation of some 600 works from its permanent collection has proved to be the most interesting content, posting a 773% rise in visits.

However, its absolute record is a 8000% rise in visits to its virtual gallery, the gallery has told the STA.

One of its successful projects is the Art of the Day series launched on 24 March to highlight one work of art every day in Slovenian, English and Italian.

The gallery says it was Jakob Savinšek's bronze model for a monument to architect Jože Plečnik that attracted the most attention on 27 March.

The museum has also noted a great interest in its postings on social media, with over 17,000 followers on Facebook, a three-fold rise, and 7,000 on Instagram, and further rising daily.

Almost 20,000 Facebook users responded to the April Fool's Day joke when the gallery said their Dutch colleagues discovered van Gogh's painting which is believed to be Slovenia's popular lake-side resort of Bled. The posting was shared or commented by almost 1,150 users.

The Moderna Galerija and MSUM, the national museums of modern and contemporary art, have recoded an approximately a 50% rise in visits to their websites and in social media postings.

The Museums and Galleries of the City of Ljubljana (MGML) have recorded over 30% more visits to their website, while content intended for schools has seen a growth rate of more than 720%. A similar trend has been recorded on social media.