Royal gem Portrait gets TV makeover that’s fit for a king
AGLOUCESTERSHIRE mum appeared on BBC’S The Repair Shop with an incredible historical portrait to restore.
Liz Vella, from Tewkesbury, is the owner of one of the earliest ever portraits of King Charles II, and The Mirror reports that it was passed down though her family.
Liz, 32, who is head librarian at Bishop’s Cleeve Library, inherited the painting from her grandparents and remembers it “watching over” her in their dining room as a child.
She said: “The adults used to joke that he was watching us so we had to behave. My sister was quite creeped out by him but I was fascinated.
“Nobody else wanted him, so I said I would have him.”
As her son Dylan, seven, became interested in history, he urged her to apply to have the portrait restored by BBC One’s hit show The Repair Shop.
The programme’s art restorer, Lucia Scalisi, discovered it was possibly one of the earliest period paintings of the Merry Monarch, who reigned from 1660 to 1685 – and one of the oldest antiques to ever enter their workshop.
Liz, 32, said: “We had no idea he was so old. My grandpa thought he was some sort of Victoriana reproduction, so we were totally shocked when we found out he was a period piece.
“We have no idea of his value, although I suppose we should get him appraised for insurance purposes.”
Lucia cleaned the painting, repaired the tears and delicately touched up the paint to bring the 350-year-old portrait back to its former glory.
Liz said she and partner Tom Maggs would never sell the “museum-worthy piece” and would instead pass it down to history buff Dylan, who can name every monarch.
“He can name every monarch and he decided his favourite was Charles II because he was the Merry Monarch who loved to party,” Liz said.
“He thought he seemed quite cool. So I decided to get the painting out to show Dylan and he was blown away by it – but even he at the age of seven could see that he needed some TLC, so that is when we decided to apply to The Repair Shop.”
When restorer Lucia got her hands on “Charlie Boy” he had several tears and his delicate features were covered in decades of dirt and varnish.
Dylan told her that Charles reigned from 1660 to 1685 – and Lucia is convinced the portrait was painted in the early part of his reign, making it a piece of art of historical significance.
Lucia painstakingly cleaned the painting, repaired the tears and delicately touched up the paint to bring the portrait back to its former glory.
Liz, who was brought to tears when Lucia’s restoration of the painting was unveiled, said: “Lucia did such an amazing job.
“He was so dull before but now she has cleaned him up you can even see the rivets on his coat of armour and all the colours are so bright. We absolutely love him.”
» The Repair Shop can be seen on BBC iplayer