Intention To Renovate Apartment Kitchens, These Two Men Even Found Nearly 400-Year-Old Paintings

Luke Budworth andguechaelshow off a replica of the historic painting they found. (Source: Luke Budworth)

JAKARTA - A mural believed to be nearly 400 years old has been found in an apartment in northern England after the renovation of the kitchen.

Luke Budworth (29) and his partnerboly totaling (26) and their dog Leonard temporarily moved from a one-room apartment in the cathedral town of York while their new kitchen was renovated in December. Then Budworth received calls from contractors. He told CNN Monday: "In a very relaxed way they said, 'did you know there's a painting back here?'" Budworth said, imitating calls from contractors working on renovations, quoted from CNN April 16.

By the time Budworth went to see it, the new kitchen cupboard was already on the wall, covering up the decorations - the only evidence of the discovery was a blurry image taken by the workers.

Despite his disappointment, Budworth, an analyst at research data at the University of Leeds, suspects that a "little panel" similar to the other side of the open living room may also hide something.

"It was painted the same as the other walls and I know it had holes. I always thought it might just cover a few pipes," he said.

His suspicions proved to be correct. "That's a suitable part," he continued.

According to Budworth, both lines measure about 9 feet 4 feet, although the top is cut by the ceiling.

The old city of York is known to be surrounded by ancient walls and Budworth apartments, which he bought in October 2020, located inside it on Micklegate - one of the city's main streets. The apartment, located above a cafe and charity bookstore, is part of a Level II registered Georgia building dating back to 1747.

"We thought maybe it was a Victorian-style wallpaper, but it turned out to be far, far beyond the age I thought at first," Budworth said.

The recently discovered painting depicts a story in the Bible, where a man in a cage is pulled by an angel. There is also a man on a white train who, according to Budworth, "seems to be climbing into the kingdom of heaven."

"Very excited," Budworth contacted Historic England, the public body that preserves the country's historic legacy. A representative was then sent to survey artwork and take some detailed professional photos.

Historic England gave the couple a high-quality and original-sized replica of decorations and advised them to cover it up to preserve it.

Doing some online search work, Budworth found that the two lines featured scenes from a 1635 book entitled 'Emblems' written by the poet Francis Quarles.

"The wall painting is older than the flat itself," explained Budworth, explaining that the artwork was carried out on the wall of a building that no longer existed. In other words, the building was built around the existing wall.

The paintings are believed to have been made between 1635, when 'Emblems' was written and 1700 when such artwork was no longer popular, according to Budworth based on Historic England's input.

Although the two friends don't have the resources to invest in professional conservation in open decorations, they are very interested in combining them into their decorations.

Budworth said: "If we can find some kind of funds to help preserve it, I would be willing to take a cupboard [kitchen] off the wall but unfortunately I didn't see that happen. But others will keep it as good as possible."

Historic England confirmed to CNN they had visited the property and have now submitted the painting image to the Department of Wall Painting Conservation at the Courtauld Art Institute in London.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesman for Historic England said: "The discovery of this 17th-century mural at a house in Micklegate, York is very interesting. They were first discovered in 1998 and then covered up. We have been involved in mural documentation and are supporting current owners in the best way to take care of them since being discovered recently."

"They asked various questions about the age of buildings in this row of historic homes and Micklegate's own history. Findings like this tell us that our historic home has many secrets and we are pleased to work with the owner of this house in maintaining this mural for the future," the agency said.