Britain's Lost Masterpieces

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Series tracking down lost and hidden paintings from local museums and galleries.

Series 4

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Bendor Grosvenor

Emma Dabiri

Spike Geilinger

Harry Bell

Britain's Lost Masterpieces: Series 4: Oxford

Oxford

BBC Four - Britain's Lost Masterpieces, Series 4, Oxford

Dr Bendor Grosvenor makes a fascinating discovery in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

In Oxford's Bodleian Library, Dr Bendor Grosvenor spots a finely painted portrait by an unknown artist. Could it be by the greatest portrait painter working in Rome in the 18th century, Pompeo Batoni?

In the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Dr Bendor Grosvenor identifies a portrait of a fellow of Merton College from the 1750s, George Oakley Aldrich. It is not known who painted the picture, but Bendor believes it is by the most famous painter of British grand tourists that ever lived, Italian artist Pompeo Batoni. 

Batoni arrived in Rome at the age of 19 and quickly made a name for himself as one of the most talented painters of both religious, and mythical history, subjects. He found himself in huge demand to paint altarpieces for churches and chapels throughout the city, but after a monumental work for an altar in St Peter’s was rejected by a committee of priests, a furious Batoni turned to portrait painting and was adopted by the British aristocracy.

Britain's Lost Masterpieces: Series 4

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Tracking down lost and hidden paintings from Britain's local museums and country houses.

Using restoration, research and scientific analysis, Bendor Grosvenor and Emma Dabiri examine the story behind four paintings that may be by Botticelli, Batoni, Brueghel and Gainsborough.

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