Painting returns to Wales 80 years after slate mine protected it during Blitz

A painting will return to Wales 80 years after it was hidden in a mine to protect it from bombing.

The Stonemason’s Yard, a piece by the artist Canaletto, will be on display at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth from Friday, as part of the National Gallery’s 200th anniversary.

The exhibition tells the story of how the painting came to Wales as a “refugee” to protect it from Nazi air raids on London during the Second World War.

It was kept intact at the cavernous Manod slate mines, near Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd, and then returned to the UK’s capital after the risk of attacks was over.

The Italian painter lived from 1697 to 1768 and this particular work is believed to have been painted in about 1725.

Twelve pieces of the National Gallery’s collection will be on display at museums and art galleries across the UK.

The Idyll and Industry exhibition in Wales will also include works by the likes of Richard Wilson, JMW Turner and Penry Williams.

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For the first time in its history, the library will also include an audio described tour for some of the items on display at the exhibition.

“It is an honour to have one of Canaletto’s masterpieces here, and displaying the work alongside some of the highlights of the National Art Collection,” said Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, chief executive of the National Library of Wales.

“Working with the National Gallery on this exhibition to mark their 200th anniversary has been an incredible privilege,” added Mari Elin Jones, the library’s interpretation officer.

“Being able to welcome Canaletto’s masterpiece back to Wales after having taken refuge here 80 years ago is tremendously exciting, and we cannot wait to share with the public this fascinating story.”

The exhibition will remain on display until 7 September.

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Other paintings being lent to galleries and museums around the UK include:

• The Wilton Diptych (about 1395‒9) by anonymous – Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• Self Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640) by Rembrandt – Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
• The Hay Wain (1821) by John Constable – Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
• Venus and Mars (about 1485) by Sandro Botticelli – The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
• Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (about 1615‒17) by Artemisia Gentileschi – Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
• The Fighting Temeraire (1839) by JMW Turner – Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
• The Umbrellas (about 1881‒6) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
• A Young Woman standing at a Virginal (about 1670‒2) by Johannes Vermeer – Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
• The Supper at Emmaus (1601) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio – Ulster Museum, Belfast
• The Rokeby Venus (1647‒51) by Diego Velázquez – Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
• The Water-Lily Pond (1899) by Claude Monet – York Art Gallery

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