A 17TH Century painting which has been on display at York Art Gallery has been saved in a £2.7 million fundraising drive.

Audiences were asked to visit York Art Gallery to see The Procession To Calvary, by Pieter Brueghel The Younger, completed in 1602, and give generously to stop the painting being sold to a private collector.

Its permanent home is in Nostell Priory, in Wakefield, and the campaign by the National Trust and Art Fund means it can now be kept on public display at the National Trust property, where it has hung for more than 200 years.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund completed its campaign on Thursday when it announced it would add a £1 million grant to the £500,000 grant from Art Fund, more than £680,000 raised by the public and nearly £510,000 from trusts and foundations.

Dr Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: “Considering the economic climate, this has been a hugely challenging campaign and we are enormously grateful to all our members and supporters who have given so generously.”