After Being Restored, New Details Were Discovered In A Painting That Belonged To Winston Churchill
For the first time ever, a restored portrait of John Churchill, the first duke of Marlborough, will be put on display at a country house called Chartwell. It is located in southeast England and once belonged to Winston Churchill, who was a descendant of the duke.
After removing layers of dirt, varnish, and old paint, experts uncovered new details in the painting. For instance, there was a cavalry unit in the background, which alluded to the duke’s military record.
The Duke of Marlborough lived between 1650 and 1722. He secured several major victories against the French at the battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenaarde.
The restoration work revealed new information about the origins of the artwork and how it came into the possession of Winston Churchill during World War II.
Katherine Carter, the National Trust’s curator at Chartwell, first saw the painting in 2013. It was in poor condition and was much too fragile to put on public display.
During a private tour of Chartwell’s back rooms, Jeff Mooney and Suzanne Bolton, a philanthropist couple from Canada, saw the painting and decided to donate over $32,000 for its restoration.
The painting of the duke was long thought to be a 19th-century copy of an 18th-century original. According to the National Trust, which owns and operates Chartwell, the artist was unknown, and it had been attributed to the “British School.”
After analyzing the pigments, researchers were able to date the painting to the late 17th or early 18th century, meaning that it was likely created during the duke’s lifetime.
It appears to have received inspiration from a 1705 portrait of the duke by Dutch artist Adriaen van der Werff. This particular portrait is housed in Florence’s Uffizi Galleries.
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The recently discovered copy seems to have been made by an English artist, according to a joint analysis conducted by the National Trust and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Researchers will continue to work toward uncovering the identity of the artist.
It was believed that the painting had been in the Churchill family for generations, but the portrait actually entered the family’s collections much later.
On February 15, 1942, Lord Saltoun of Scotland gave the art piece to Churchill right after the Fall of Singapore. At the time, Churchill was the prime minister.
In a note, Saltoun admitted that he had doubted Churchill’s abilities but came to respect him as he guided the country through dark times. He offered the portrait to Churchill as a token of his gratitude.
Churchill was happy to accept the artwork as he looked up to the Duke of Marlborough. In the 1930s, he wrote a million-word, four-volume biography of his ancestor and hung a print of the portrait above the foot of his bed.
Now, visitors at Chartwell can see the painting hanging over the main stairwell of the historic house.
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