UK Museums Gifted Major Collection of Italian Masterpieces
- February 20, 2013 22:48
A private collection valued at more than 100 million pounds ($154 million) and consisting of 57 Italian Baroque paintings amassed by the late banking heir Denis Mahon has been formally gifted to six museums and galleries in Britain.
The collector put the paintings on long-term loan to the respective museums with the restriction that they did not charge admission or sell works from their collections.
An art collector and historian, Mahon died in 2011 at the age of 100. He left his collection 17th century Italian Baroque art, including works by Guercino, Guido Reni, Domenichino, Ludovico Carracci and Luca Giordano to the Art Fund charity to disperse to specific institutions.
The National Gallery in London got the lion's share at 25, 12 went to the Ashmolean in Oxford, eight to the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, six to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, five to Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery and one to Temple Newsam House, Leeds.
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
