Lost Treasures revisited – New/ old addition to the Music Room

6 January 2016

We continue our look back at the Lost Treasures of Stowe campaign.

2016 update: The Dance of the Hours has returned and can now be seen in situ in the Music Room. We have also had a beautiful chandelier created to hang from the centre of the painting. The chandelier design is based on photographs of the room from before the great sales. 

9 September 2013

After the marvellous conservation of the stunning Music Room last year, the one aspect that made the room incomplete was the missing central oil painting, The Dance of the Hours, by Valdre. This had been sold in 1922 but came up for sale again in the 1970s. Stowe School was unable to raise the £9000 the bids went up to, and just before it disappeared into a private residence, was copied by an Old Stoic, Benjamin Gibbon, on board. Part of the conservation of the room was to tone down the bright colours Gibbon had used and also to paint out the quartering that had occurred when the final painting was brought in through the doors and found to be too big! And the original disappeared... 

However, this February, a member of Christie’s curatorial team had visited a property with a view to valuing some items and he recognised the missing painting. After negotiating with the current owner, the School’s headmaster was able to buy the painting back for Stowe! It is currently being conserved and a way of bringing it back into the room is being discussed! We can now say that the Music Room is almost complete – if you know where an organ in the shape of Apollo is, then do let us know!