'Extraordinary discovery' made in old painting

New technology has helped experts make an "extraordinary discovery hidden beneath" an old painting.

Entitled "Stourhead in its Infancy", the 18th Century oil painting was "long believed to be the earliest view" of the Wiltshire estate, according to the National Trust.

Infrared images have now revealed "unexpected hidden elements", including a hidden horse-drawn carriage along with a lady in a bonnet, a gentleman and a "coach dog".

Claire Reed, a trust curator, said: "To find such an extraordinary discovery hidden beneath its surface is incredibly rare and incredibly exciting."

Reed said the discovery was made at the beginning of a year-long restoration project where infrared reflectography is being used to "peer through the layers of varnish, dirt, different paint layers, to have a look at the painting underneath".

"It was in that moment that we realised the painting as we see it today is not how it originally appeared," she said.

"In a corner of the painting a carriage, with occupants, horses and even a little dog, had been painted out.

"Even with the naked eye you can see the wheel of the carriage poking through the upper layers of paint, and almost encircling this figure that's been later painted on."

The painting depicts cattle, sheep and figures in the foreground with a white classical temple on the far shore and part of a bridge on the opposite bank.

But following the unearthing of the hidden carriage and figures, the trust said it has had to revise the painting's date.

"Costume evidence now suggests the painting dates from around 1785–1800, later than originally thought," a trust spokesman said.

It has also raised the question of whether the landscape, which was thought to show Stourhead in the early stages of its development, is of the property at all.

Reed said: "We've looked at the features in the painting and compared them to the landscape garden as we know it today and as we know it was and has been [and] it looks very different to this. So the jury is out."

"In a world of AI and fake images, it has made us question what we think we know about many of our paintings."

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