The National Galleries of Scotland and London’s National Gallery said on Monday they had raised the 50 million pounds needed to save a key work by Renaissance master Titian before it was put up for sale by the Duke of Sutherland.
Of the 50 million raised for “Diana and Actaeon”, the Scottish government pledged 12.5 million pounds, 7.4 million came from public donations, 12.5 million from National Galleries in London and another 10 million pounds came from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
The campaign to save the painting has drawn criticism from politicians who said the money, some of which came from government funds, could have been spent more wisely during a deepening recession.
Should public money have been spent on saving this seminal work of art, one of two Titian paintings being sold by the Duke of Sutherland? And do you think the Scottish public is entirely happy with their money going to a family whose notorious ancestors were involved in the Highland clearances of the 19th century?
Trackback
5 comments so far
And how many starving or abused children would this money have saved?? Or perhaps is could have gone towards getting the gritters and snowploughs out when they should have been?? Come on Scottish Parliament?? Get the budgeting right. This country is being run into the ground - but don’t worry, we can all sit around this painting in our final hours and see it was all worth it! NOT!
- Posted by Mrs PayneEventually the age of barbarism currently afflicting the country will be displaced by a return to decency.
When that happens we will need need all the artworks, literature and historic buildings that remain in order to teach our children a respect for history and knowledge of life beyond the dependency culture and junk food. So it was right to spend public money on making this work of art available to the British public. The question about whether the Scottish public are happy to see the money go to the Sutherlands is irrelevant and an example of the small-minded Left-wing griping we have come to expect from Astrid. The Sutherlands own the painting - therefore if we want it we have to buy it from them. End of story.
- Posted by PeterIt was right to save the painting for the nation. The “starving and abused kids” can be saved with the British taxpayers’ money that is currently being used to kill people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One little question that no-one seems to have bothered to address is: Since the Labour government have made it inevitable that Scotland will eventually split from England, who will get the painting when the split comes?
- Posted by JasonI’m not Scottish in the sense that I live there or was born there. I do not pay taxes in Scotland so my say doesn’t really matter much. But, I will say that if the same scenario was here in America (and I am sure it is) I would say no. Let a museum purchase it or private individuals. But then again, there are naked ladies on it. Hmmmmmm. Perhaps I should reconsider…. But I must say that the old grey hair in the picture taking a photo of the painting is quite distracting. Bad photography. Couldn’t the photographer snap a shot without the old man there?
- Posted by jasonI am afraid I think the Sutherland family, who are not exactly poverty stricken, are holding ‘the nation’ (or do I mean ‘both nations’?) to ransom, rather than helping us to ’save the Titian for the nation’. They are trickling their Titians on to the market to get the maximum return whenever they can. ‘Diana and Actaeon’ is the second; we are promised another in four years time. Lucky us!
Of course the money could be spent on schools, hospitals etc - but I’d rather that came from the cost of our ludicrous overseas military adventures. The £50 millions could have done wonders within the arts and culture budget for UK citizens and overseas visitors. Why is the arts establishment still in hock to the wealthy aristocrats? GRRRRRRRRR!!!!
- Posted by Richtea