An unlikely hero has decided to intervene at the last moment to save an important collection of religious paintings that were planned to be sold to cover church debts. The paintings, painted in the 17th century hang in the castle that has been the home of the Bishop of Durham for more than 800 years.
The savior, Jonathan Ruffer, is a relatively unknown Fund manager with a load of cash on hand.
“Last November, he heard that the Church, burdened by the expense of keeping Auckland Castle, wanted to sell the Zurburans. He was horrified, and ‘shouted at’ the Church about it, but he suddenly realised that ‘I was the only person in a position to do anything about it. I happened to have £15 million [the price stated]. I wanted to do something for the north-east, where I come from. And I collect such paintings. Four years ago, I bought a Gainsborough copy of one of those Zurburans of a cowled saint. My first thought had been a commercial one – that I could buy them for myself – but then I realised that there was something much more important to do.’
Ruffer, whose father was a Royal Marine ‘who sank the Bismarck singlehandedly’, was educated at Marlborough and Cambridge, but brought up in the North Yorkshire village of Stokesley. His loyalty has always been to the north-east. Now he saw his chance. ‘People underestimate the symbolic power of art,’ he says, ‘Look at the Angel of the North… These paintings are quite monumental.’ His original idea was to give the pictures for permanent exhibition in northern cities, but, thanks to Lord Rothschild (‘a present-day Jacob: I feel the wheel has come full circle’), a more ambitious and imaginative scheme was devised: ‘The battle honours in all of this go to him, not me.’ Ruffer’s money will provide enough for the Church to let the pictures stay in Auckland Castle and the Bishop maintain a foothold there. With help from £1 million of Rothschild money, the castle will be looked after by a partnership, perhaps (the details are still not fully settled) of the National Trust and Durham City Council. Ruffer will continue to chair his London firm, but he and his wife Jane, a palliative care doctor (‘I’m elliptical. She’s as straight as a die’), will spend time at the castle most weeks, turning it into the place where all those who want to help the north-east will meet and rest and talk and plan. The whole thing is visionary, and has moved incredibly fast by Anglican standards.
What does Ruffer, the connoisseur collector, think of the pictures? ‘I’ve never seen them,’ he says, amazingly, and he has never yet been to Auckland Castle – he is going for the first time this week. ‘It sounds funny, but I’m just very busy.’”
Read the full article here.