// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
The portraits that helped bring the lost Aberfan children home
The portraits which helped to bring the children of Aberfan home
For almost 60 years, many of Aberfan's lost children have watched over living rooms, hallways and family gatherings across the village.
Some were painted from faded school photographs. Others were shaped by the memories of grieving parents, who wrote letters to an artist describing the children they had lost: the colour of their eyes, their favourite clothes, the flashes of personality that made them unique.
The portraits arrived in the years after one of Wales' darkest days. And for many families, they became far more than paintings.
In a new BBC programme, Unseen: The Aberfan Portraits, some have shared their paintings and spoken about how the art helped them grieve.
The portraits helped families grieve after the Aberfan disaster
"It brought her back to life," said Denise Morgan, whose younger sister Annette was among those who died in the Aberfan disaster.
On 21 October 1966, a coal tip collapsed above the village. The torrent of slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and nearby homes, killing 144 people including 116 children.
The disaster remains woven into everyday life in Aberfan. It is felt most strongly in the memorial garden on the site of the fallen school, and among the white arched monuments of the cemetery.
But it's also felt in the empty places left behind at family tables, in childhood bedrooms which were suddenly occupied by one child instead of two, and in the portraits that came to represent those who never grew up.