Diana and Actaeon, 1556-1559. Courtesy National Gallery Scotland, lent by the Duke of Sutherland in 1945
The campaign to save Titian’s iconic Diana and Actaeon has met more criticism after it was revealed that buying the painting could cost the public up to £100 million in purchase funding and lost taxes.
The National Gallery has until December 31 2008 to raise the £50 million which will dissuade the Duke of Sutherland from selling the Renaissance classic to private buyers, a figure which is likely to be met following major pledges from the likes of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
But in an interview with The Times newspaper, Glasgow South West MP Ian Davidson described the Duke’s tax-free sale as “morally reprehensible” for one of Scotland’s wealthiest men, and challenged the gallery to let the Duke sell the piece at auction, where the expected £150 million asking price would be subject to tax.
Experts have repeatedly claimed that the figure represents a bargain for the nation, and the scheme has enjoyed high-profile support. Hollywood actress Kim Cattrall recreated the depiction of cavorting nudes in a saucy snap next to the original last month, and Tracey Emin led a string of high-profile artists in delivering a petition to Downing Street urging the government to support the acquisition effort to buy the paintingand its accompanying piece its accompanying work, Diana and Castillo.
“It will be really embarrassing if the government doesn't buy them and they are bought by some Russian oligarch and never seen again,” she said.
However Sir John Tusa, Chairman of London’s University of the Arts, and Nigel Carrington, rector at the University, wrote an open letter imploring authorities to devote as much commitment to academic investment as the Titian, and the economic recession has stoked debate over the feasibility of the purchase.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham had asked the treasury to provide an emergency grant of £10 million for the cause.
The potential New Year’s Eve payment will mark the first instalment of a payment totalling £100 million, completed with the purchase of Diana and Castillo in three years’ time.
The paintings are the highlights of the Duke’s Bridgewater collection of 27 Old Master paintings, and are thought to have a realistic market value of around £300 million.
