Lotto money could secure Raphael masterpiece

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced today that it will award £11.5 million to the National Gallery in its bid to buy Raphael`s 'Madonna of the Pinks'.

The decision to award the National Gallery the grant was approved yesterday as part of a £90 million package of major grants.

With less than a month to go before the 'Madonna of the Pinks' was due to be sold overseas, the Heritage Lottery Fund's support should ensure that the painting will become part of the National Gallery's permanent collection where it will be displayed with eight other works by Raphael.

"This was a once-and-for-all opportunity to keep the Madonna in Britain and strengthen a great national collection. An opportunity we felt could not be missed," said Liz Forgan, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"It is difficult to weigh up the public benefit of an Old Master picture against a wildflower meadow or a vintage steam engine, but the National Lottery is the only real source of funding for much of the UK's heritage."

The Madonna of the Pinks has "an important role" in the National Gallery's collection and is the only one in the collection which represents Raphael's stay in Florence – illustrating the most dramatic stylistic transformation in art history.

St Martin-in-the-Fields, the UK's most visited church, will also receive a grant of £13.3 million to restore this Grade I listed institution. Consecrated in 1762, the church has a strong history of social care – the idea for Amnesty International was conceived at the church and the charity Shelter also began at the site.

Thousands of artefacts could be coming out of storage with a grant of £8.47 million at the London Transport Museum and 34 million preserved plants and insects at serious risk from pest infestation will be re-housed at the Natural History Museum following their grant allocation.

(GMcG)