Thomas Hardy's lost altarpiece
August 17 2016
Picture: Guardian
There's 'lost art', and then there's art that you think - how on earth did we ever lose it? In the last category, The Guardian reports on that an enormous marble altarpiece designed by the novelist Thomas Hardy has been discovered behind panelling in a church in Windsor. Churchgoer Stuart Tunstall happened to be peering through a gap in the panelling with an iPhone torch, and found it. The original design - which was itself only discovered in the 1970s tucked away behind the organ - can be seen above. The vicar, who has been there for 18 years, had no idea it existed.
The panelling is itself architecturally important, and must be removed with care. The church is seeking to raise £9,000 to do this.
Kudos to The Guardian sub-editor who came up with the caption, 'Rood the obscure'...
