Race to Save a 15th-Century Masterpiece from Auction Block!

A museum in Dorset is facing a big challenge as it tries to raise £3. 5 million to buy an extremely rare triptych painting before it goes up for auction in December. The triptych, which is a painting made of three panels, dates back to the 15th Century and was kept at Sotheby's for safekeeping while St Johns' Almshouse in Sherborne was being renovated. When the painting was moved, experts realized how valuable it was, and the charity that owns the almshouse decided to sell it to fund new housing for people in need.

Dorset Museum is now asking the Arts Council for a temporary export deferral, which would give them more time to collect the money needed to keep the painting in the country and on public display. The triptych has been valued between £2. 5 million and £3. 5 million. The central panel of the painting shows Jesus and his apostles with gold halos, and there are other figures dressed in medieval clothes, a large castle in the background, and a bearded man in red robes with a gold halo in the sky. Experts say the triptych is the only surviving work of an unknown painter from Brussels and has been described as 'exceptionally rare' because it has survived religious purges and political changes for over 500 years in the almshouse chapel.

Claire Dixon, the executive director of the museum, said that the triptych would be the earliest artwork in their collection and that its significance to Dorset is very important. The museum has used export deferrals before for items worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, but never for something worth millions. With less than two weeks until the auction, the museum is applying for grants and has started a crowdfunding campaign. Dixon said she spoke to Sherborne Museum and The Sherborne arts centre to make sure they support the plan. If the museum is successful, they hope to display the triptych in Sherborne. St John's Almshouse had to close its 19 retirement accommodation units last year because they were too expensive to keep open. Richard Hunt, the chairman, said that selling the artwork gives the charity a chance to continue helping people for generations.