Penrhyn Castle painting is 'lost' Murillo masterpiece

A painting which has hung in a Welsh castle for 150 years and was long thought to be a copy has been reclassified as a lost masterpiece.

The 17th Century portrait is of a Spanish writer and has been verified as an original work by Spanish artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo.

It has been on public display at Penrhyn Castle, Bangor, which is run by the National Trust.

The painting of Don Ortiz de Zuniga was considered a copy of a lost original.

Murillo's painting of Christ, Ecce Home, sold for £2.7m in July. He is considered one of Spain's finest artists but there are only a handful of known portraits created by him, many worth millions.

It is now currently part of a Murillo exhibition in New York while a copy hangs in Seville.

It was only when Spanish art scholar Benito Navarrete visited Penrhyn Castle to examine what was thought to be the other copy that he was able to establish it was the original.

The painting was one of a number of Old Master paintings amassed by Baron Penrhyn of the Pennant family in the 19th Century and was believed to be by Murillo when it was purchased in about 1870, but was later reclassified as a copy.

The work is not for sale but Sotheby's auction house said the find was significant.

"The emergence of this fine portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in Seville represents an important addition to the artist's oeuvre," said James Macdonald, senior director of Sotheby's Old Masters department.

Once discovered, the painting was taken to New York's Frick Collection to join an exhibition of Murillo's work, which will be transferring to London's National Gallery after it ends in February.

One of the exhibition's curator's, Xavier Salomon, said the person who discovered the "exciting find" was a "real hero".

"Everyone, me included, took the word of experts and scholars who had previously thought this work a copy," Mr Salomon told the BBC.

"But Benito Navarrete visited north Wales earlier this year to see for himself. He was in no doubt that it was an original. He's right. It's beautifully clean.

"It's a hugely significant find. And an exciting one too because you don't expect works to be hidden in plain sight.

"The house was open to the public but the painting was high up, I'm told, and everyone thought it was a copy. We're delighted to now have it in our exhibition."