By Sarah Mac Donald - 10 July, 2014
15th century altarpiece from Piercestown parish. Pic courtesy: Irish Times
A 15th century altarpiece which was abandoned in a presbytery shed fetched €40,000 at an auction on Wednesday.
The religious artwork is a triptych featuring scenes from the Crucifixion which have been identified as originating from a 15th-century Flemish school of art.
The piece was found when the parish in Piercestown Co Wexford was clearing out a shed to convert it into a parish office two years’ ago.
When the triptych was cleaned up it was found to have painted door panels and a centrepiece featuring a sculpted frieze depicting the ‘Lamentation of Christ’.
Piercestown parish priest, Fr John O’Reilly, expressed his delighted at the sale and said the proceeds would go towards the conversion plan for the sacristy.
It remains unclear as to how the work of art ended up in Piercestown.
Ahead of the sale, Sheppards, the art auction specialists in Durrow, Co Laois, had estimated the piece to be worth between €80,000 and €120,000.
According to Sheppards, the piece may have found its way to Wexford through a merchant who brought it back from a trip to the continent in centuries gone by.
However, they also speculated that it may have been brought to Wexford via priests or nuns at the time of Belgium’s occupation by Nazi Germany.
The triptych was bought on Wednesday by a Belgian art dealer and it will now return to the Low Countries.
