An 800-year-old figure of Christ that once adorned St Mary’s Abbey in York will be returned to the city after nearly two centuries.
The rare object, made in Limoges, France, in the 13th century, was found in 1826 in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in York.
It disappeared for nearly 100 years before it became part of the private collection of a German art collector in the 1920s.
The gilded and enamelled ornament will now be displayed at the Yorkshire Museum, on the site of the former abbey, after it was bought by the York Museums Trust.
The 16cm figure is believed to have been acquired from Limoges to furnish St Mary’s Abbey, which was newly built in the 13th century and was the richest abbey in the north of England.
It would have been mounted on an enamelled cross and decorated a religious object, such as a manuscript cover or a casket.
