British art galleries buy Titian’s Diana and Callisto

The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the National Gallery in London (United Kindom) have bought for € 58,3 million ($72 million) Titian's great masterpiece Diana and Callisto.

This acquisition - along with the purchase of its companion painting Diana and Actaeon in 2009 will remain together on public display in either London or Edinburgh.
 
Diana and Callisto and Diana and Actaeon have been in the UK for more than 200 years. They were both painted as part of a cycle of works for Philip II of Spain and they represent a highpoint in Italian Renaissance art. The paintings left Titian’s studio together and have only changed hands three times since then (from the Spanish Royal Collection to the Orléans collection, and then to the Bridgewater Collection at the end of the eighteenth century). The acquisition of Diana and Callisto means that the pair can remain together in Britain in perpetuity.

As a result of the joint acquisition, Diana and Callisto will be shared by both institutions and displayed together with Diana and Actaeon on a 60:40 rotating basis in London and Edinburgh, meaning that the public will have access to both works together. This allocation reflects the fact that a larger proportion of the funding for Diana and Callisto has come from the National Gallery in London.