Eighty years on, there has been a sort of homecoming for Canaletto's The Stonemason's Yard, as it returns to form the centrepiece of a show opening on Friday at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
The painting, an early work of the 18th-century Venetian artist, was among treasures moved from the National Gallery in London to the cavernous Manod slate mine, near Blaenau Ffestiniog, in 1940 for safekeeping.
Now in more comfortable circumstances, it has been hung in the library's Gregynog Gallery, surrounded by almost 100 works spanning more than 250 years from the institution's own collection.
"It looks amazing," said Mari Elin Jones, the library's interpretation officer. "It does feel like a kind of homecoming." As the Second World War loomed, institutions such as the National Gallery began to plan what to do with their treasures.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin May 08, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin May 08, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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