After sixty-five years of absence, it once again overlooks the choir of the abbey church of Saint-Martin-aux-Bois (Oise). This 14th century Virgin and Child, a modest 80 cm statue, had not been seen in its place since December 1959, when it was stolen in circumstances which have never been clarified in this village of 300 souls. , planted in the middle of the fields of northern Oise.
While everyone had forgotten about it, it resurfaced during its presentation for its auction in 2020 in a Parisian auction house. And last February, she found the abbey church of Saint-Martin-aux-Bois, a masterpiece of Gothic art, attracting tourists and architecture students, which would have been described by Henri IV as the “most beautiful lantern” of his kingdom.
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