A RARE sculpture by the man known as the "Michelangelo of Wood" has been saved for the nation after a successful fundraising campaign.

Internationally significant, it depicts King David playing a harp and surrounded by dancing cherubs - and is now on permanent public display for the first time in its history at the famous Georgian townhouse, Fairfax House in York.

It is the earliest known artwork from the master craftsman Grinling Gibbons, as well as the only known artwork from his formative years while working as a journeyman in York.

Dutch-born Gibbons lived in the city for three years between 1667 and 1671 before moving on to London where his work found great fame and he was appointed as master carver to George I. He died in 1721.

The King David sculpture reflects Gibbons’ love of music and the depiction of the Barwick family coat of arms gives it a provenance relating to the Yorkshire Barwick and Fairfax families and a real connection to Fairfax House itself.

Previously held in international private collections, the panel was due to be sold on the international art market earlier this year but was withdrawn from sale after a fundraising campaign launched last May raised £250,000 to buy it.

Fairfax House director Hannah Phillip said: “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to save an immensely rare piece of British history from international export and sale.

"We’re delighted with the support we’ve received, not only from charitable funds but also from individual donors all over the country, which has enabled us to save the sculpture and place it on permanent public display as a lasting legacy in its place of creation.”

The panel will be the subject of a major new exhibition in 2018, From Journeyman to King’s Carver: The Genesis and Genius of Grinling Gibbons. Opening on the 370th anniversary of Gibbons’ birth ,it also marks the 350th year of his arrival in York.