Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565

A National Trust property in south Warwickshire is displaying a world renowned piece of artwork.

‘Love Among the Ruins’ by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833–98) is on display at Upton House and Gardens near Edgehill.

Missing portrait of Henry VIII re-discovered in Warwick

The Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, which the Trust says is one of its ‘most treasured artworks’, will be on display until the end of the year.

Art handlers hanging the picture Love Among the Ruins at Upton House and Gardens. Photo by National Trust/Helen Cable

The painting features two lovers seated among the decaying ruins of a building overgrown with roses and was inspired by the title of Robert Brownings’ (1812 – 89) poem of the same name, ‘Love Among the Ruins’ (1855).

The painting was recently on loan to a gallery in Musei di San Domenico in Forlì, near Bologna where it was part of an exhibition entitled ‘Pre-Raphaelites: A Modern Renaissance’.

The piece is now on temporary display at the National Trust property, while conservation work takes place at its usual home, Wightwick Manor – another National Trust property in Wolverhampton.

Completed in 1894, the oil composition is a copy of the original watercolour version which was damaged and was painted by Burne-Jones shortly before he died in 1898.

Love among the Ruins by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Birmingham 1833 - London 1898). Photo by National Trust Images/Derrick E. Witty

It is considered to be one of the most important examples of Burne-Jones work as well as one of the finest in the collection of the Pre-Raphaelite era.

Upton House and Garden’s Curator, Michelle Leake, said: “We are delighted to welcome this important piece to our collection here at Upton House and we’re excited for visitors to have the opportunity to view this much-loved painting.”

“The original watercolour composition, which is inspired by the title of Robert Browning’s poem of the same name, holds significant emotional charge and clearly meant a lot to Burne-Jones himself for him to painstakingly recreate it.

"Painted shortly after Burne-Jones’s passionate affair with Greek artist and sculptor Marie Zambaco (1843–1914), who had become his muse, the sombre scene appears to show the couple’s love is a potent force in an otherwise crumbling civilisation.”

‘Love Among the Ruins’ was originally bought by Upton House and Garden’s historical family Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted (1853-1927), in 1913.

It was inherited by his son, the 2nd Viscount Bearsted, Walter Samuel, in 1927, the same year he purchased and began to renovate Upton House.

Lord Bearstead chose to display the painting at the family’s London home, where it remained until his death in 1948.

This is the first time the treasured painting will be displayed at Upton House and Gardens.

To find out more about ‘Love Among the Ruins’ and Upton House and Gardens go to: nationaltrust.org.uk/upton-house-and-gardens

Your chance to see world-renowned oil painting, on display at National Trust property near Leamington

“The original watercolour composition, which is inspired by the title of Robert Browning’s poem of the same name, holds significant emotional charge and clearly meant a lot to Burne-Jones himself for him to painstakingly recreate it.

"Painted shortly after Burne-Jones’s passionate affair with Greek artist and sculptor Marie Zambaco (1843–1914), who had become his muse, the sombre scene appears to show the couple’s love is a potent force in an otherwise crumbling civilisation.”