DYRHAM Park has welcomed back a 17th century painting after sixty years after grants and donations were raised to bring it home.

A detailed 17th century still life painting by Dutch artist Cornelis de Heem, originally bought by a patron of the arts and a minister to King William III, has returned to the National Trust mansion in Dyrham.

The painting, which depicts flowers and fruit, in oil on canvas, dates from the mid 1680s and was at Dyrham Park in 1956 until it was sold at auction.

It has now been bought back by the National Trust and is on display as part of a new exhibition in the 17th century mansion, called ‘Mr Blathwayt’s Apartment’ in a suite of rooms which have been presented using the titles they were originally given in an inventory carried out in 1710.

Rupert Goulding, National Trust curator, said: “It is always exciting when an item from an original collection can come back to the place for which it was first acquired and we are indebted to those organisations and individuals whose generous donations have enabled us to bring the de Heem home to Dyrham.”

“The flowers in de Heem's painting are echoed both by the Delft pottery flower pyramids which we already have in the collection, and the baroque garden outside. We have displayed the painting in the Diogenes Room and have added silk flowers to the Delft pyramids, and bowls of potpourri to provide floral scent to complement the picture’s theme."

The painting has been bought by the National Trust with funds from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Mr and Mrs Kenneth Levy bequest, the Art Fund, a fund set up by the late Hon. Simon Sainsbury, the Royal Oak Foundation’s Ervin-DesChamps Fund, and a private donation.

Dyrham Park is currently undergoing a £3.8m programme of building work to replace the roof and other repairs, and during the work five ground floor rooms are presented, focussing on each of the five senses.

Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: “We are pleased to help return this significant painting to Dyrham Park after an absence of nearly sixty years. The work is evidence of the taste and collecting activity of William Blathwayt, Dyrham's first hero, and will be much enjoyed by its visitors."

Dyrham Park remains open through the roof replacement this year with visitors still able to see some of the original Dutch-inspired interiors and part of the priceless collection of furniture and objects collected by Blathwayt both in the newly presented rooms and in conservation tours where experts will show how the objects are being cared for and conserved during the work.