4 November 2016
We are delighted to reveal that this morning our conservators from Hirst Conservation have discovered this enigmatic face peering out from the walls of our eastern Grand Staircase. We believe this face has been covered up for more than 250 years and that we are the first people to see these tantalising wall paintings since Earl Temple ordered them to be covered up in the middle of the 18th century. A face revealed on the wall - part of Francesco Sleter's scheme of wall paintings We have a lot more research to do to understand the full significance of our discovery however this is an exciting day for the team at Stowe, the conservation team and internationally for those researching the work of Francesco Sleter and, more widely, baroque wall paintings. Keep up to date with developments on social media with the hashtag #StoweDiscovery Find out more about our discoveries earlier in the week.