CROWD-FUNDING – which involves pooling pledges from people keen to support various projects – was so successful at the Bowes Museum earlier this year that it sparked international interest across the museum world and has led to the Art Fund setting up its own fundraising platform.

Among the first to benefit from the Art Fund venture is the Bowes Museum itself, which is using that organisation’s online platform, Art Happens, in a bid to raise £21,000 to redisplay a 15th century Passion altarpiece and reveal hidden paintings on the reverse.

The altarpiece is made up of six oilon- panel paintings by Master of the View of St Gudule (active c1465- 1500), and intricate wooden carvings by the Brussels Sculptors’ Guild, forming a sequence that tells of the arrest, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Promotion of the campaign will be through a combination of support from the Art Fund, the use of project ambassadors and the museum’s digital and traditional marketing activities. Earlier this year, the Bowes surpassed the target needed towards commissioning a new light installation work by Gavin Turk.

The ensuing publicity prompted museums and other organisations to contact project co-ordinator Alison Nicholson to learn about raising money via this method.

The Art Fund project does not charge a fee, unlike most other platforms, and donations are eligible for Gift Aid.

The latest project at the Bowes, if successful, will fund research into how the altarpiece would originally have been displayed and pay for a new frame and stand to lift it to the height of an altarpiece; there will be some conservation of the carvings and a more meaningful interpretation.

Technology will allow paintings on the reverse, at present hidden from view, to be revealed. They depict St Anthony, the family of Zebedee and the four fathers of the church, along with the signature mallet marks of the guild.

“The conservation and redisplay will give visitors a greater understanding of the piece and its significance to the museum’s early religious art collection,” said Mrs Nicholson.

Rewards for pledges,from £5 to £1,000, include a range of products and behind-the-scenes access to the conservation studio, picture stores, archives and VIP tours with the director and other staff.

To make a donation, visit artfund.org/ arthappens-bowes.