Church unveils ‘filthy’ painting as a £100,000 masterpiece
A FORGOTTEN painting that has hung in a rural church for hundreds of years has been revealed as a Renaissance masterpiece worth at least £100,000.
The “filthy and dark” artwork has been on the wall since the mid-1800s in St John the Baptist’s Church in the north Lancashire village of Tunstall.
But following an investigation by the BBC’s Fake Or Fortune television programme, it has been revealed as having been painted by Francesco Montemezzano, a second-level Italian 16th century artist and contemporary of greats such as Tintoretto and Titian.
The Rev Mark Cannon, vicar of the church, said: “We have a dilemma because it is obviously worth a lot more than we thought. We have to decide whether we can keep it in the church or not.”
He added: “We were hopeful of discovering something about its history, how it got here and why it’s in the church. What was neglected by us at the back of the church turns out to be something special.”
The oil-on-canvas work is a Pieta – a depiction of the dead Christ cradled in the arms of his mother Mary after he was taken down from the cross – and is half of the height of the church wall it hangs on.
The Rev Cannon and church warden Jane Greenhalgh were filmed showing Fake Or Fortune presenter Fiona Bruce and art expert Philip Mould the uncleaned painting at the start of the programme and then with the revived work at the end.
Bruce said: “It was filthy but very early on Philip thought it was Venetian because of the style and colours particularly. But now you can see it has jewel-like, enamel-like colours.
“But we have found a name. He was an Italian artist, who painted in Venice in the late 16th century.
“He lived a short life but he is, according to scholars of this country and Italy, the artist.”