AFTER languishing for 200 years in Ledbury parish church, a gloomy painting on the north wall has been hailed as a “lost” depiction of The Last Supper

More than 250 people watched Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev Richard Frith unveil the large Italian renaissance painting, painstakingly restored by noted expert and art historian Ronald Moore. With vital input from his research assistant Patricia Kenny, over 650 hours have been devoted to researching the mystery work.

There was an audible gasp when Mr Moore presented his theory that the painting was begun by Venetian renaissance painter, Polidoro da Lanciano, who died in 1565, when the commissioned work was probably continued by his small studio and family and probable input from two master painters working on the heads.

Mr Moore said Tintoretto was “a possibility given the brushwork and fact he worked in Titian`s studio with Polidoro years before”.

Rector at St Michael & All Angels, the Rev Keith Hilton-Turvey explained the picture had become “increasingly dark” over the years and some even believed the church “ought to get rid of it”. He continued: “It was thought to be of little value or merit, but some of the Friends of the church thought differently.

“We owe a lot to the committee and to four benefactors.”

Brought to Ledbury in around 1780, the unsigned painting was partly based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper a copy of which provides an altarpiece in the church.

A noted painter himself, Mr Moore, who trained at the Courtauld Institute and has lectured extensively in art history, admitted the painting had been a puzzle to him, and to six noted authorities around the world.

“I think this has been the most complex detection story in art history I have ever encountered in more than 40 years,” he admitted. “We’ve spoken to major experts around the world but nobody has been able to help us and after more than 240 years the mystery has never been solved.

He then worked out a proposal for attribution and sent it to Professor Alessandra Zamperini at Verona university , expert and author on Veronese and the Venetian Renaissance. She supported his “tentative attribution to Polidoro da Lanciano”, he said.

“Most pictures that look like renaissance works are copies – 95 per cent in churches particularly,” he said. “To find one never seen before is quite, quite exceptional.” Praising his assistant’s “remarkable abilities”, Mr Moore said they had meticulously researched Venetian renaissance styles, techniques, painting materials and use of colour, concluding that the painting bore the work of a number of painters.

“The biggest problem of all was that the heads are painted by different artists, some of staggering quality,” he said.

Mr Moore put forward his opinion: “Polidoro was Titian’s assistant, he was extremely good and it was the right time,” he said. “In 1564 he knew he was ill, he did the drawings and worked out the composition, produced the cartoon and the studio was possibly helped by his old friend from Titian’s studio, Tintoretto to complete the work over the following year.”