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Titian is saved for the nation after galleries raise £50m
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent2 Feb 2009
A TITIAN masterpiece has been saved for the nation after a six-month battle to raise £50 million.
The large-scale mythological painting, Diana and Actaeon, had been on permanent loan to the National Galleries of Scotland since 1945.
The galleries joined forces with the National Gallery in London to raise the money to buy the 16th century work when its owner, the Duke of Sutherland, announced he wanted to sell.
The Scottish government gave £12.5 million and other big sums were provided by the National Heritage Memorial Fund - the UK government's fund of last resort for national treasures - and the galleries themselves. The public and individuals' trusts gave a further £7.4 million to buy the painting which has been in this country for more than 200 years. It will now be shared between London and Scotland on a five-year cycle.
Dr Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery in London, said: "The response has been astonishing.
"The notes pressed into collecting boxes and the cheques sent to us by the general public, the generosity of individual friends of the gallery and the support given by the trustees of charitable bodies combine to make this a great success story. It testifies to the power of Titian's painting and the conviction that public access to the greatest art is of the utmost importance."
Diana and Actaeon is one of dozens of masterpieces in the so-called Bridgewater Collection owned by the Duke of Sutherland who is selling to diversify his financial portfolio.
The collection also includes works by Rembrandt, Raphael and Poussin and is one of the most important in private hands anywhere in the world.
The Duke promised that the rest of it would stay on public loan if the Titian was bought. But the deal was held up by complex negotiations over the fine print of that promise. New "assurances" have been made that the Bridgewater Collection will stay on public view for the next 21 years.
Reader views (4)
Last night on BBC NewsNight Scotland representatives from the arts world extolled the benefits to cultural tourism in Scotland resulting from the purchase of this painting for our national gallery in Edinburgh. Today we hear that it will be going south annually for eight months of each year to begin with, then for five year stretches.
As it stands the painting has been attracting cultural tourists continually for many years, so it appears that the benefit to Scotland of buying this painting is a 50% reduction in its niche tourist potential.
Some bargain !
- John J, Edinburgh, Scotland, 03/02/2009 12:10
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Great news..! I'm also impressed with the unified work by England and Scotland. Well done.
- Paul, Bromley, 02/02/2009 15:29
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Paul - your £50m spread between 500 people works out at £100k each. Are you a redundant banker perchance ? I didn't think this was the kind of worker the majority of us were concerned about. In any event, the plethora of instutions who rallied to the cause and helped raise the money disagree with you, as do their supporters and many leading contemporary artists. The facts of the Duke's lineage and inheritance is irrelevant, but it does show your prejudice.
- Joe, London, 02/02/2009 14:43
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This is just the most depressing story - let's give £50 million of public money to a millionaire member of the aristocracy for a painting he probably inherited. His bluff should have been called - sell the thing abroad. Use the £50 million to keep 500 people in jobs - or build a school, fund some new cancer treatments. Get the painting copied or even photographed and put that on display instead. It's not just bankers who make crazy financial decisions.
- Paul, London, 02/02/2009 13:07
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