{"id":275992,"date":"2025-11-21T20:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T20:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275992\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T20:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T20:00:08","slug":"dorset-museums-3-5m-race-to-save-sherborne-almshouse-triptych","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275992\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorset Museum’s \u00a33.5m race to save Sherborne almshouse triptych"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StSt Johns’ Almshouse<\/p>\n

The triptych had been sent to Sotheby’s for safekeeping during renovations<\/p>\n

A museum is in a race against time to raise \u00a33.5m for an “exceptionally rare” triptych painting which is due to be auctioned in December.<\/p>\n

The piece, dating from the 15th Century, was valued by Sotheby’s when it was moved for safekeeping during renovations at St Johns’ Almshouse in Sherborne, Dorset.<\/p>\n

After discovering its value, the charity decided to sell the altarpiece to fund new accommodation for people in need.<\/p>\n

Dorset Museum is asking the Arts Council for a temporary export deferral to allow it more time to raise the money to keep it in the country and on public display.<\/p>\n

\"Sotheby'sSotheby’s<\/p>\n

The painting has been valued at between \u00a32.5m and \u00a33.5m<\/p>\n

Experts identified the triptych, depicting five miracles of Christ, as the only surviving work of an unknown painter who was active in Brussels.<\/p>\n

It has been described as “exceptionally rare”, having survived through religious purges and political upheaval for more than 500 years in the almshouse chapel.<\/p>\n

Museum executive director Claire Dixon said: “We have no objects or artworks in our collection related to the Reformation.<\/p>\n

“This would be the earliest artwork in our collection, in terms of paintings.”<\/p>\n

The museum has previously used export deferrals for artefacts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, but never millions.<\/p>\n

She said: “The scale is enormous, I don’t know if we are going to be able to do it but I just think, what are we here for if we don’t try?<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it has ever left Dorset – its significance to the county is really important.”<\/p>\n

\"JaggeryJaggery<\/p>\n

The artwork has been kept at St Johns’ Almshouse chapel for more than 500 years<\/p>\n

With less than two weeks until the auction, the museum is applying for grants and has launched a crowdfunder.<\/p>\n

Ms Dixon said she had first spoken to Sherborne Museum and The Sherborne arts centre to ensure they were “fully supportive”.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want to tread on toes,” she said.<\/p>\n

If successful, the museum said it would look at the possibility of displaying the triptych in Sherborne.<\/p>\n

St John’s Almshouse closed its 19 retirement accommodation units in 2023 after they became financially unsustainable.<\/p>\n

Chairman Richard Hunt said: “With the sale of this artwork, we have an important opportunity to protect the work that the charity can do for generations to come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Johns’ Almshouse The triptych had been sent to Sotheby’s for safekeeping during renovations A museum is in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-275992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}