Gilded 15th-century altar panel returns to museum 44 years after it was stolen, thanks to keen auction researcher

A 15th-century gold-bottomed altar panel that was stolen from the York Art Gallery in 1979 is set to be returned, thanks to the keen eye of a researcher at the auction house.

Known as the Nuremberg School panel and dating from around 1480, it is double-sided and depicts saints important to the Bavarian city of Nuremberg. The panel was half of a pair donated to the institution in 1955 by FD Lycett Green and was to be sold at Duke’s Auctionsin England, before similarities to his York counterpart were spotted.

The auction house decided to withdraw the lot at the last minute and ask The Register of Art Lossesr, the world’s largest private database of stolen artworks, to further investigate the panel. The registry, which was working on a pro bono basis, quickly concluded that the panel painting was the very one that was stolen from the Yorkshire gallery almost 45 years ago.

Nuremberg School panel showing St Lawrence, St Sebald of Nuremberg and the Angel Gabriel. Photo: Courtesy of Duke’s Auction.

“We work a lot with [The Art Loss Register] to identify stolen artwork and regularly check all auction catalogs to ensure no piece is marked as stolen in their database,” Guy Schwinge, a Duke’s partner, told Artnet. News.

Duke’s had come to auction the sign after examining the contents of a home in the Southampton area, but the seller knew nothing of the sign’s background, having inherited it from his father. Schwinge thinks the original collector most likely purchased it at a market or auction house without knowing where it came from.

“We told her daughter that the painting was stolen 50 years ago and she was very happy that it was just returned to the museum,” Schwinge said. “No money changed hands. We are very grateful to him for being so forthright about this.

After being transported to the north, the panel will be controlled and kept by York Art Gallery specialists before finding its sister piece.

“We are delighted that this piece has been found and returned to York Art Gallery,” Morgan Feely, senior curator at York Art Gallery, said in a statement.

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