This is the best summary I could come up with:

Brian Edwards, from the University of the West of England (UWE), found the original picture when looking through a photograph album for other research.

Released in 1971, Led Zeppelin IV has sold more than 37 million copies worldwide and includes the huge hit Stairway to Heaven.

The cover art had previously been described as a photograph of a painting, which was reportedly discovered by the band’s lead singer, Robert Plant, in an antique shop near guitarist Jimmy Page’s house in Berkshire.

Mr Edwards - who is part of the regional history centre at UWE in Bristol - explained how he worked out the original photographer was Ernest Farmer, who died in 1944.

Mr Edwards discovered a chemist working in Salisbury, close to where the picture was taken, who had a son called Ernest Farmer, and then found his handwriting online.

“It is fascinating to see how this theme of rural and urban contrasts was developed by Led Zeppelin and became the focus for this iconic album cover 70 years later,” he said.

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