Fragments of 'butchered' Renaissance masterpiece reunited for first time
Only three pieces from Paolo Veronese's 16th century masterpiece the Petrobelli Altarpiece were thought to have survived.
The 18ft-high canvas was cut up in 1788 to be "sold just like meat in a butcher's shop", as one contemporary art dealer put it.
But in a 'Eureka!' moment Xavier Salomon, curator of the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London, identified the fourth part after visiting the Blanton Museum of Art in Texas.
When he starting work on a project to bring the three pieces together, he wondered if the small Veronese he had seen there, called 'Head of an Angel', was the missing piece of the jigsaw. Tests later proved it was the central piece - the head being that of St Michael. The original showed him standing in triumph over Satan.
Now the four parts have been reunited for an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, which opens next Tuesday (Feb 10)...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
The 18ft-high canvas was cut up in 1788 to be "sold just like meat in a butcher's shop", as one contemporary art dealer put it.
But in a 'Eureka!' moment Xavier Salomon, curator of the Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London, identified the fourth part after visiting the Blanton Museum of Art in Texas.
When he starting work on a project to bring the three pieces together, he wondered if the small Veronese he had seen there, called 'Head of an Angel', was the missing piece of the jigsaw. Tests later proved it was the central piece - the head being that of St Michael. The original showed him standing in triumph over Satan.
Now the four parts have been reunited for an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, which opens next Tuesday (Feb 10)...