Errant pigeons help discover Spanish fresco

PIGEONS fluttering through a hole in the ceiling of a Spanish cathedral led an art restoration team to discover an exquisite Renaissance fresco of winged angels that had been covered up for more than three centuries.

The team had been working on the baroque dome of the cathedral in Valencia for more than a month, removing a layer of grey paint and fending off birds flying in and out of the hole.

The experts had been hoping to find Renaissance artwork cited in centuries-old cathedral records. They were drawn to the pigeon hole by the sound of birds cooing inside.