Renaissance fresco uncovered in Valencia

Snip

Ben Sills in Granada and agencies
Friday June 25, 2004
The Guardian


Part of the fresco by Francisco Pagano and Pablo de San Leocadio

Pigeons fluttering through a hole in the ceiling of a Spanish cathedral led art restorers to an exquisite Renaissance fresco of winged angels that had been covered up for more than three centuries.
The team had been working on the baroque dome of the cathedral in Valencia for more than a month, removing a layer of grey paint and fending off birds flying in and out of the hole, the Valencia regional government said yesterday.

They had been hoping to find Renaissance art cited in the cathedral's records, and were drawn to the pigeon hole two days ago by the sound of birds cooing inside.

The team leader, Javier Catala, stuck a digital camera inside and shot blindly. It came back with partial but spectacular images of a well-preserved fresco believed to be more than 8 metres (26ft) in diameter.

The baroque ceiling turned out to be a false one covering a fresco painted by the Italians Francisco Pagano and Pablo de San Leocadio. They were commissioned in 1472 by the papal envoy Rodrigo Borja, a Spaniard who became Pope Alexander VI. "We are flabbergasted," said Ana Perales of the regional culture department.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,2763,1246862,00.html