LONDON.- A full size photographic replica of the celebrated Ashwellthorpe Triptych has been commissioned by the Norfolk Branch of the Art Fund for All Saints Church in Ashwellthorpe, South Norfolk.

Back in 1983, The Art Fund helped Norwich Castle Museum to buy a magnificent Flemish altarpiece – the Ashwellthorpe Triptych – depicting the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary. Commissioned by the Knyvett family of Ashwellthorpe in around 1520, it is the earliest known painting commissioned by a Norfolk family from a Flemish artist.

Fast forward to 2010 and a full size photographic replica of the celebrated Triptych has been commissioned by the Norfolk Branch of the Art Fund for All Saints Church in Ashwellthorpe, South Norfolk.

The work, which The Art Fund gave £500 towards, will be on display at Norwich Cathedral between 6 and 29 December 2010 before heading to its new permanent home at the Church in Ashwellthorpe, where it will be dedicated by the Bishop of Norwich at a special service on 6 February 2011.

Mary Yule, a volunteer with the Norfolk Branch of the Art Fund, spent an hour on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square last year as part of Antony Gormley’s One & Other project – in order to fundraise for the copy of the Triptych. She said: “It was an unforgettable experience going onto the Fourth Plinth to raise funds to create this wonderful replica, and thrilling that it now exists. It is a great honour that it is being shown in the beautiful surroundings of Norwich Cathedral before it goes ‘home’ to All Saints Church, Ashwellthorpe.”