Header Ads Widget

The Repair Shop viewers 'bawling' over incredibly moving fix for emotional guest

 Jay Blades and the team welcomed Maria Kirk to the barn, who brought with her a 19th-century Madonna and Child painting which was her only connection to her Ukrainian family. 






Maria explained that her grandfather, who was a Ukrainian catholic priest, was given the painting by his father and hung it in his church in the mountains of western Ukraine. 


When the Second World War broke out, the painting was rolled up and hidden in her grandmother's coat just before she was taken to a forced labour camp in northern Germany with her two daughters. 


While her mother and aunt survived, Maria's grandmother died of starvation in the camp. When her aunt became ill some years later, she decided to give Maria the painting. 


"It makes me realise how brave they were to do this because they could have easily been robbed or shot," she explained. "The faith and the bravery to just do it and hide it in a coat and carry it through the whole war."


Paintings conservator Lucia Scalisi put her restoration skills to the test and transformed the painting to its former glory. 

Post a Comment

0 Comments