County Durham museum's hidden painting discovered by x-ray gets new lease of life as album cover

A painting owned by the Bowes Museum that was hidden for hundreds of years under another work has been given a new musical lease of life.

The painting, which is owned by the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, depicts a nativity scene and was discovered in 2019 by art conservators at Northumbria University. It had been hidden for around 400 years after being painted over with an image depicting the beheading of John the Baptist and was only discovered when an x-ray was taken to determine possible damage to the painting's wooden frame.

The discovery received international media coverage and led to American musician and singer, Hank Sullivant, coming across the story last year when researching potential images for his band Kuroma's latest album, called The Color of Heaven. The musician, who has pivoted from rock into choral music and taught himself to play the church organ, has an interest in x-ray images of paintings

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That, combined with the album's religious links, meant he felt an instant connection to the scene, and he contacted Northumbria University senior lecturer in conservation of fine art Nicky Grimaldi, to seek permission to use it. He said: "I first came across x-rays of paintings about 10 years ago and aesthetically they really appealed to me.

"They have a haunted quality and so much texture and form. The longer you look at them an image starts to reveal itself.

"When I finished my latest album and began looking for an image for the front cover, I started searching for x-ray images and came across the nativity scene discovered by Nicky. It immediately appealed to me – the section with the crib was very luminous and seemed to reflect the sound we had been seeking to create through our music.

"One of the songs on the album, Neverending Night, is written from the perspective of the Magi when they find Jesus – the joy at recognising him as the son of God, but also the sorrow when they see the sadness in his future, and so this painting just seemed to fit perfectly."

Not only did the painting inspire Hank Sullivant, but a "people's playlist" on the BBC Radio 6 Breakfast show with Lauren Laverne (presented by Nemone, in her absence) on Thursday, July 25. Bowes Museum said they were "delighted" that the painting had been given a new musical lease of life.

The painting in question is in a late medieval style and probably former part of a larger altar piece. As was typical of the era, it is painted onto a piece of canvas spread over a large panel made from planks of wood, usually oak, pine or even chestnut.

However, in the years between the work being painted and The Bowes Museum taking ownership, the wooden structure begun to deteriorate. Museum curators worked in collaboration with staff from Northumbria University's conservation of fine art MA course to assess the damage.

Assistant Professor Nicky Grimaldi led the investigations and discovered the nativity scene. She said: "I think it’s wonderful that this painting, which has been covered up and hidden for all these years, is now being seen by people around the world through Hank’s music.

"It really shows the power of art – how an image can be interpreted in different ways and how people can feel this incredible connection to an image despite it having been painted hundreds of years ago. We know nothing about the artist who painted the nativity scene, and only have this ghostly x-ray image to go by – but it still gives us a tantalising glimpse of what the original painting would have looked like."

Vicky Sturrs, The Bowes Museum's Director of Programmes and Collections said: "It is fascinating what hidden art lies beneath or behind a canvas sometimes and to make this kind of discovery is still fairly rare. We’re delighted that the American musician Hank Sullivant has been inspired to create his album cover artwork based not directly on the hidden artwork but on the digital x-ray impression the technology presented and that his album cover inspired a people’s playlist on Lauren Laverne’s BBC Radio 6 show.

"This isn’t the only recent discovery of hidden art and reused canvas, the Museum discovered what’s become the 29th known self portrait of one of the north’s foremost artists, Norman Cornish, during conservation work in preparation for the opening of the current exhibition, Kith and Kinship: Norman Cornish and L. S. Lowry."