'We are so excited': Two prestigious paintings return to Wolverhampton's Wightwick Manor
Two prestigious paintings, including one of the National Trust’s most treasured works of art, have returned to Wolverhampton’s Wightwick Manor and Gardens following a year-long absence.
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‘Love Among the Ruins’ by Birmingham-born artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898), is one of the main focal points in the Great Parlour, but due to building conservation works taking place last year, it was sent on loan to the Musei di San Domenico in Forlì, Italy, to appear in a Pre-Raphaelite exhibition. Last summer it then went on display at its original home, at another National Trust property, Upton House and Gardens in Warwickshire.
Wightwick Manor, built and furnished according to Arts and Crafts ideals, contains a significant Pre-Raphaelite art collection, with ‘Love Among the Ruins’ one of the highlights. Considered one of Burne-Jones’ most important late artworks, the oil painting features two lovers embracing among the decaying ruins of a building overgrown with roses. This melancholy scene appears to show that the couple’s love is a potent force in an otherwise crumbling civilisation.
The original watercolour composition, inspired by the Robert Browning poem of the same name, was painted shortly after Burne-Jones’s passionate affair with Greek artist and sculptor Marie Zambaco (1843–1914), who had become his muse. The first painting was unfortunately damaged with this second version completed in 1894.
Specialist arts couriers have safely delivered the impressive artwork back to Wightwick Manor, where it has now been rehung, complete with new lighting and now ready for visitors to admire once again.
A second important painting, ‘Mrs Nassau Senior’ by George Frederick Watts, has also returned home to Wightwick.
The large portrait painting, which also hangs in the Great Parlour, close to the grand piano, has been away on loan at the Watts Gallery in Surrey.
The painting depicts Jane 'Jeanie' Elizabeth Hughes, Mrs Nassau John Senior, an important socialist who became the first female Inspector of Workhouses and Pauper Schools (1874). She also helped the co-founder of the National Trust, Octavia Hill, with her housing scheme accounts.
Helen Bratt-Wyton, House and Collections Manager, said she was delighted to have both paintings back after their year away.
She said: “We are so excited to have ‘Love Among the Ruins’ and ‘Mrs Nassau Senior’ back after their travels. The Great Parlour hasn’t felt quite the same without their familiar striking presence. We’re sure our visitors will be as happy as us to be able to admire both wonderful works of art, up-close once more. We are especially lucky to have such a major work by Burne-Jones on display here in Wolverhampton.”
The paintings were on-loan to coincide with Phase 2 of a major conservation and repair project ‘The Big MEND’, which focused on work affecting the Great Parlour last year. This major three-year scheme of works is focusing on making the Manor wind and watertight, by repairing and conserving the timber-frame, window frames, sills and stained glass, as well as work to repair and repoint chimneys and rainwater goods.
Phase 3 starts this month with scaffold due to be erected on the east elevation, which is the final side of the building to be worked on. The manor will remain open to visitors throughout the work.
‘The Big MEND at Wightwick Manor’ is funded by a £658,260 Museum Estate and Development (MEND) Fund grant, from Arts Council England (ACE) on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
