Although £400,000 is only a fraction of the sum required, it constitutes one of the largest grants offered by the Art Fund in its 100-year history.
Art Fund director David Barrie said: “This is an extremely beautiful and amazingly well-preserved picture that shows Raphael’s (1483-1520) complete mastery of colour and composition. It would make a wonderful addition to the National Gallery’s collection if only the enormous funding challenge can be met.”
A small cherrywood panel measuring just 111/2 x 9in (29 x 23 cm), The Madonna of the Pinks is believed to have been painted in Florence c.1507-1508, just before Raphael left to work at the papal court in Rome where he was to remain until his death. The painting encapsulates a significant moment in Raphael’s artistic evolution when he was based in Florence studying the great masters of his day. Here the influence of Leonardo can be seen clearly; with Raphael basing his composition on Leonardo’s painting Benois Madonna now in the Hermitage.
Art Fund put up £400,000 in bid to save £29.5m work
The National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund), has offered a £400,000 grant to the National Gallery in their bid to secure Raphael’s The Madonna of the Pinks for the collection. The painting, sold by the Duke of Northumberland to the Getty Museum in California, is subject to a temporary export bar of one month, with a potential further six months extension, to give the National Gallery the chance to raise the £29.5m needed to keep it in the country.
