Tate Britain raises £5million to save Rubens

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The gallery now needs £900,000 to secure the most expensive work it has bought.

A total of £2million raised towards the purchase is government money given via the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Historian David Starkey called The Apotheosis Of James I: Multiple Sketch For The Banqueting House Ceiling "a universal work of art".

It is being sold by the family of the sixth Viscount Hampden, who died aged 71 in January and whose ancestors have owned the Rubens for more than 200 years.

Although the sketch is worth £11.5million, the Tate will be able to buy it at a discount under the private treaty sales scheme.

This encourages owners to sell pieces to British galleries rather than overseas collectors by giving them concessions on inheritance tax and capital gains tax.

Dr Starkey said: "It seems to me that it is absolutely unthinkable that this leaves the country."

The 95cm by 63cm sketch is the basis for nine ornate panels on the ceiling of Banqueting House in Whitehall, which can still be seen by visitors. It depicts a swirling scene of the ascent of King James I into heaven, representing the divine right of kings.

The work was commissioned in 1629 by his son Charles I, and Charles knighted Rubens after the ceiling was completed.

Initially, Lord Hampden's family had wanted to sell the sketch by mid-July, but the gallery was given more time.

The Tate, which has raised £5.1million so far, said: "We will continue to display the work in Tate Britain throughout August and September and hope to make a formal announcement after that."