A guest was overcome with emotion on the latest episode of The Repair Shop when a painting that she said is her only "tangible" connection to her Ukrainian family was restored.
The BBC show returned on Wednesday night (March 22) for its new series and among the guests in the episode was Maria Kirk, 74, who had sought the help of the experts.
She had brought along a painting of Madonna and Child which was discoloured and creased. Maria said it had been in her family for generations and she wanted it repaired.
Maria told host Jay Blades, 53, and painting conservator Lucia Scalisi about it, revealing that it had once belonged to her late grandfather Joseph, who was from Ukraine.
She said that her grandfather - who had been a catholic priest - was given the painting by his own father and it was displayed in his village church in Skowiatyn.
Maria said that upon the outbreak of the Second World War, her mother Irena, grandmother Halyna and aunt Stefania fled the country, "escaping from the Russians [on] one side and the Germans [on] the other".
She further stated that her ancestors had decided to take the painting with them - following Joseph's death - so they rolled it up and stitched it into one of their coats.
Maria said it was the only thing they took with them, before continuing: "[They were later] captured by the Germans and sent to a labour camp. My grandmother died in the camp".
The guest said her mother came to the UK following the end of the war and her aunt decided to stay in Germany, where she kept the painting for a number of years.
Maria said she was later given the painting by her aunt. She heartbreakingly said about the artwork: "This is all I've got. I haven't got any other tangible proof that they even existed".
She went on to describe her late family as "brave", saying on the BBC show: "The faith and the bravery to just do it and hide it in a coat and to carry it through the whole war."
Maria said: "I just want to see it how they would have seen it." Lucia subsequently worked on the painting and restored it to its former glory, with it unveiled later in the episode.
Maria gasped upon seeing the restored painting and was visibly emotional discussing it. "Oh my goodness," she commented, before adding: "Ah it's beautiful. Thank you".
"This is the only tangible thing that I can actually touch and know that they touched it and they looked at it. [...] Hopefully I've helped them to be remembered," she said.
She previously told the Mirror: "I couldn’t understand why they had taken this painting and not something more practical, but now I get it. It was the precious link between them and their father... the family and life as it used to be."
Maria - who expressed hope of taking the artwork back to Ukraine some day - said: "The painting is a beacon of peace, faith and beauty out of the darkness and horror of war."
The Repair Shop continues next Wednesday (March 29) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm. You can catch up on previous episodes now through BBC iPlayer.
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