ART lovers in Dorset will be able to view a painting usually only seen in galleries in European capitals this summer.
Homage to Velázquez by 17th century Italian artist Luca Giordano will hang in Kingston Lacy near Wimborne until September, thank to a loan from the National Gallery in London.
The painting has been traded temporarily for the Judgement of Solomon by Sebastiano del Piombo.
Rob Gray, house manager, said: “This is something of a first for us. We have arranged a reciprocal loan with the National Gallery and this is the first time Kingston Lacy has borrowed a painting from an external organization.”
Giordano’s painting was once attributed to the great Spanish artist Diego Velázquez.
The painting evokes his style and may be a reference by Giordano to Velázquez’s Las Meninas, a version of which was bought by Kingston Lacy owner William Bankes. The painting hangs in the Spanish room and the house is open every day except Tuesday 11am to 4pm.
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