Identity Of Man On Led Zeppelin IV Album Cover Discovered 52 Years Later

You’ve seen the photo. On the cover of Led Zeppelin’s masterful blockbuster Led Zeppelin IV — released 52 years ago today — a framed image hangs on a wall. The photograph, often mistaken for a painting, depicts a man hunched over, carrying a bundle of wood on his back — a primitive stairway to heaven, if you will. As the story goes, Robert Plant purchased this framed photo from an antique shop near guitarist Jimmy Page’s house in Pangbourne, Berkshire, but for years, the identity of the man in the picture remained a mystery. Not anymore!