'Hidden' 18th Century Italian marble statues to go on show in York

The statues were originally commissioned for Wentworth Woodhouse, a large stately home near Sheffield

A pair of 18th Century Italian marble statues, hidden from view for more than 40 years, are to go on display.

The statues were commissioned for Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, in the 18th Century and bought by York Council in 1949.

However, they were put into storage in the 1970s and forgotten until 2012.

Councillors decided the statues would be formally transferred to the city's museums collections and permanently displayed at York Art Gallery.

Young Centaur (tempted by love) and Old Centaur (bound by love), were probably carved by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716-1799) in Rome in around 1755.

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They were purchased by the council at auction in 1949 when the Wentworth Woodhouse estate was broken up.

In 1950 they were placed in the city's Assembly Rooms in two wall niches, however in 1975 they were loaned to York Art Gallery.

Councillors were told the statues were never formally transferred to the ownership of the city's museum collections at that time.

The statues were originally commissioned for Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham

In 2012, York Museum's Trust, which manages the city's collections, found them and realised they did not own them.

They transferred them to the York Conservation Trust as it had bought the Assembly Rooms in 2002.

The council said the York Conservation Trust had agreed to transfer the sculptures to the city's museum collections, managed by York Museums Trust.

This would solve the ownership question in the council's favour and ensure the works can be publicly displayed.

Seeking their return for sale would incur costs, have an uncertain outcome and would damage the council's reputation as is "always the case when councils seek to sell heritage assets from their collections," councillors were told.