National Gallery buys Devil's defeat
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.MARIANNE MACDONALD
Arts Reporter
The executors of Luton Hoo, one of England's greatest historic houses, yesterday announced the sale of a 15th-century Spanish masterpiece in the latest attempt to cover the Bedfordshire estate's crippling debts.
The painting by Bartolome Bermejo, called Saint Michael Triumphant over the Devil with the Donor, Don Antonio Juan, is probably the greatest Spanish Renaissance work outside Spain.
It has been bought by the National Gallery, and was yesterday being hung amid the other Renaissance treasures in the Sainsbury Wing off Trafalgar Square.
Its purchase took a year to negotiate, with the National Gallery beating off rivals from abroad. The agreed price is thought to be around pounds 10m, to be paid over three years by the American Friends of the National Gallery from a fund endowed by John Paul Getty Jr.
The spectacular work will add significantly to the Renaissance collection by demonstrating the Netherlandish influence on Spanish painting. It shows St Michael fighting with the devil which, in accordance with medieval tradition, is a chimera, part snake, part bird, part dragon. The kneeling donor, Antonio Juan, Lord of Tous near Valencia, paid for the masterpiece in 1468.
The 6ft work, which has exquisite detail on Don Juan's cloak, shows the Cordoba-born artist experimenting with reflections: the spires of the Holy City are mirrored in St Michael's breastplate.
The painting is the latest in a stream of treasures from Luton Hoo to have been sold following the suicide in 1991 of the estate's owner, Nicky Phillips, 43. The Old Etonian racehorse owner and Jockey Club member was said to be depressed at the cost of running the estate.
Yesterday his cousin, Charles Butter, whose family owned the Bermejo painting jointly with the executors, said it had been sold "to alleviate the problems surrounding the estate". He added: "It was felt that if the painting had to be sold, it was preferable that it went to a national institution as opposed to overseas."
Neil MacGregor, the director of the National Gallery, was overjoyed by the acquisition. He said: "It is a picture of astonishing quality and the one bit of the story which was missing from our collection. We've had no really great 15th-century Spanish painting."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments