The Lost Bust of Aredius: From Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This May 7, 2023, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche celebrates its 73rd septennial ostensions. These are intended to honor the patron saints of the city, notably Aredius, whose relics are contained in a sculpted bust. Yes, but now, this bust is not the original: the real one has been in New York for more than a century, at the MET, one of the most prestigious museums in the world.

Aredius, Arède d’Attane, or Yrieix du Limousin, was a 6th-century Christian evangelizer. Born in Attane, the former name of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche (Haute-Vienne), where he founded a prosperous abbey. He is the Patron Saint of the Aredians. It’s him, next to Saint FerreolPatron Saint of Nexon, who is celebrated on May 7, 2023, on the occasion of the 73rd septennial ostensions, in the presence of the Bishop of Limoges and in front of a large audience.

As in all the cities of Limousin during such an event, the relics (the remains of the body of the saint, bones, small objects), are taken out and shown, ostensibly, to the whole population. The relics of the saints are contained in shrines. That of Saint-Yrieix has the shape of his bust. A magnificent bust sculpted in a precious metal.

For more than ten centuries, this reliquary bust has been taken out every seven years. Still as beautiful, still as impressive. Except that, since the beginning of the 20th century, it is no longer the same bust. It’s a copy which is presented to the public.

Indeed, according to the research work of historians Philippe Grandcoing and Vincent Brousse, the bust of Aredius would have disappeared from Saint-Yrieix since 1907, two years after the separation of church and state. A vague period during which certain Church assets vanished.

The investigation of the two historians put them on the trail of a certain JP Morgan, an American who bought it from an antique dealer for 300,000 gold francs in 1907. To give you an idea of ​​the price, at the time a teacher earned 2,000 gold francs a year.

“What probably happened is that a parish priest from Saint-Yrieix was approached by a Parisian antique dealer, who offered him a copy and he bought the original from him. And this antique dealer then resold the bust of JP Morgan the American billionaire,” confirms Philippe Grandcoing.

In 1917, the American billionaire simply gave it to the MET, thee Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where it has since been exhibited.

The most incredible thing is perhaps that it took nearly 60 years to realize the deception.

In the 1960s, the bust of Arédius was lent to be presented at the great exhibition fair in Paris. It will pass into the hands of specialists who appraise it and realize that it is a copy.

Since 2015 the city of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche has taken steps to recover the bust of its Patron Saint, the real one. But it looks very complicated. Communication is very difficult between one of the most prestigious museums in the world and the mayor of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. So, this one says to himself that, finally, Arédius is not so badly in New York where he could be an ambassador of the Arédien country in the United States.

“You know the MET is a big house, which has a lot of things and an international reputation. The bust is very well placed in the New York museum, and therefore we could take advantage of it to also promote our archaeological riches, our tourism and our culture,” Daniel Boisserie consoles himself.

To learn more about the history of the bust of Saint Yrieix and to discover many other stories of looted Limousin treasures, immerse yourself in the work of Philippe Grandcoing and Vincent Brousse, published in 2019 by Ardents Éditeurs: The golden age of church looters.