First portraits of Bath's Georgian architects found in Italy

John Wood the Younger and his father John Wood the Elder, were prominent architects of Georgian Bath

A decade of painstaking detective work by amateur local historians has uncovered a missing piece of Bath's Georgian history in Italy.

There had never been any publicly-known portraits of John Wood or his son, John Wood the Younger, who between them designed much of the World Heritage city during the 1700s.

Work by the History of Bath Research Group tracked down two miniature portraits of the men to Florence.

The group's findings have been authenticated by several art historians.

Royal Crescent in Bath is famous for its curving terrace of Georgian houses

The designs of John Wood and his son John Wood the Younger were highly influential in the 18th Century.

The men were responsible for designing some of the most iconic Georgian buildings in Bath including The Royal Crescent and The Circus.

Flowers were laid on the grave of John Wood, who is buried at St. Mary's Church in Swainswick near Bath

The portraits were revealed to the public at an event at St. Mary's Church in Swainswick, where John Wood and his family are all buried.

David Crellin, the secretary of the research group, was inspired to find out more about John Wood because he worships at the church.

"I think it matters a lot what people look like. We associate with people we know, and if you can see what someone looked like, that makes quite a difference.

"The two miniatures are not actually identified as John Wood and his son, and we had to eliminate a lot of people, as well as be sure who we were looking at."

David Crellin, the secretary of the History of Bath Research Group, who tracked down the miniatures of John Wood and his son to Italy

One of the first breakthroughs in the research was finding out the direct descendants of John Wood were.

They were the Blasi Foglietti family, who are based in Florence.

David contacted Camilla Blasi Foglietti through Facebook, and after many conversations, was sent a set of miniatures by the family, with the message, "Do you think these could be relevant?"

The family travelled over from Italy for the event in Swainswick, bringing the miniatures with them.

Ms Blasi Foglietti said: "We had no idea of the connection with John Wood before David contacted us back in 2016. My parents really got into the research.

"It's interesting because we've had these miniatures at my family home forever. We've always seen them there but nobody knew who they were."

Camilla Blasi Foglietti is a direct descendent of John Wood

Penny Gay worked alongside David Crellin to track down the portraits.

"When we saw the miniatures for the first time, we really got quite excited. After doing lots more research, we think we have found John Wood and his son... at last. It's so wonderful."

The group's findings have been authenticated by several art historians, including Susan Sloman, who was the Keeper of Collections at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath for 10 years.

Penny Gay, who helped David Crellin in tracking down the portraits

The research group managed to identify the artist, who was known to be working in Bath at the time John Wood was living there, and dated the clothes the men were wearing to the Georgian period.

Reproductions have been made of the paintings, but what happens to the miniatures now depends on the wishes of the family.

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