A reconstruction of the head and face of Richard III will go on show at the Yorkshire Museum this summer.

The replica head – made using detailed scans of the king’s skull – will take pride of place in a new display looking at what is really known about the last Yorkist monarch.

It is part of York’s city-wide programme of events marking the importance of Richard III to the city.

The head will be on show from July 19 until October.

Andrew Morrison, chief curator at the York Museums Trust, said: “We will use the head as a centre piece to a new display looking at what we really know about the king – separating the facts from the fiction which so often surrounds him.”

Coun Sonja Crisp, City of York Council’s cabinet Member for leisure, culture and tourism, said: “Together with a programme of events being put together by organisations across the city to celebrate and commemorate the man and monarch, this welcome exhibit will help people learn more about the life and times of the medieval city and the last Yorkist king of England.”

The reconstructed head was commissioned by the Richard III Society. It relies on pinpoint details from a CT scan taken of the king’s skull by Leicester Royal Infirmary, following the discovery of his remains beneath a car park in August 2012.

The model will be displayed in the museum’s Medieval Gallery, which also shows some of the museum’s objects connected to the king. These include the Middleham Jewel, found at Middleham Castle, Richard’s childhood home, and a silver boar badge, which would have been worn by a loyal supporter of the king.

The Yorkshire Museum will run a number of summer events connected to Richard III, including hands on activities, a display of Richard III related books in the museum library and an actor dressed as the King during the summer holidays. The reconstructed head is coming to York as part of a city wide partnership to research and celebrate the Yorkist King. The City of York Council, York Minster, the University of York, York Museums Trust, the Richard III Society and the King’s descendants have all been working together to develop a lively programme of special events which will help reveal what life was really like in Yorkshire during the time of King Richard III.

More details will be announced shortly.

The head will firstly go on show in Leicester from May and then to Bosworth Battlefield, before arriving at the Yorkshire Museum. It will also go to Northampton and the British Museum in London, before finally returning home to Leicester in spring 2014 to go on permanent display at the city’s new Richard III visitor centre, which is being created at the former Leicester Grammar School in St Martin’s Place, next to the grave site.