STOURHEAD A jewelled cabinet that was built for a 16th-century pope has been restored at a cost of £50,000. The cabinet, which is 13 feet (4m) tall and is made of marble, alabaster and semiprecious stones, resembles a baroque Roman church and was owned originally by Pope Sixtus V.
It was bought by Henry Hoare, a banker, during a visit to Italy in the mid-18th century and was kept in Stourhead House, Wiltshire, where it had not been moved for more than a century. Emily Blanshard, the National Trust manager at Stourhead, said: “Dirt had built up over centuries. Now the work has been completed the cabinet looks absolutely dazzling.”
Colin Piper, the conservator, used specialist tools for the restoration and a toothbrush for the final wax and polish.