Historic artwork back at manor after renovations

Love Among the Ruins, by Birmingham-born artist Edward Burne-Jones, was loaned to galleries in the UK and Italy

Staff at a National Trust site are "delighted" by the return of two "striking" 19th Century paintings loaned out while conservation work was completed.

Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton houses a collection of pre-Raphaelite artworks, including Love Among the Ruins by Birmingham-born Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

The 1890s oil painting, described by the trust as "a masterpiece", was loaned to galleries in Italy and Warwickshire for a year while repairs were carried out.

Mrs Nassau Senior, an 1850s work by George Frederick Watts, has also returned to display.

Mrs Nassau Senior, an 1850s oil painting by George Frederick Watts, depicts the first female inspector of workhouses

Burne-Jones's painting appeared in exhibitions in the Musei di San Domenico, in Forlì in northern Italy, and at another National Trust property in Warwickshire, the charity said.

The artwork, a copy of an original watercolour by the same artist, depicts a man and a woman embracing amid decaying ruins.

A leading artist in the 19th Century, Burne-Jones also produced a series of stained glass windows at Birmingham Cathedral, which are still there today.

Meanwhile, Watts's portrait of social reformer Jane Elizabeth Hughes, or Mrs Nassau John Senior, appeared in a gallery in Surrey.

The two paintings have now been reinstalled in a room known as the great parlour, where work on the room's timber frame and windows had been taking place.

House and collections manager Helen Bratt-Wyton said she was delighted to have both paintings back after their year away.

"The great parlour hasn't felt quite the same without their familiar striking presence," she said in a statement.