Poignant but somehow hilarious photographs of wrapped-up statues by Adrian Skenderovic

There’s something incredibly tantalising about seeing museum exhibits as they shouldn’t be: outside of the glass or off the plinth, looking at them feels almost forbidden or voyeuristic. Just as we were seduced by Thom Atkinson’s images of National History Museum pieces looking forlorn and displaced, there’s something irresistible about photographer Adrian Skenderovic’s pictures of statues all wrapped up for winter.

The statues usually stand tall and proud in the gardens in front of The Palace of Versailles in Paris, but for winter are shrouded in dowdy tarpaulin. “Hercules, Venus and Bacchante become trapped in vertical body bags,” says Adrian. “For millions of tourists every year, these covered shapes will be the only memories they keep of the beautiful statues in Versailles: they can only imagine what’s behind. I want to show that a hidden statue can be more interesting than the statue itself. It’s a tribute to the subconscious art of the gardener who wrapped these antique representations.”