News
The Fitzwilliam Museum succeeds in saving Poussin masterpiece for the nation
We are delighted to anounce that the campaign by the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Art Fund to raise £3.9m to enable the Museum to acquire Nicolas Poussin’s masterpiece Extreme Unction (c. 1638-40) has reached a successful conclusion, with the help of a substantial grant of approximately £3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and almost £1 million in donations from members of the public and charitable organisations. We are extremely grateful to the charities and thousands of individual donors who have contributed. Supporters of the Fitzwilliam Museum gave a total of £692,000 including significant funds from The Friends of the Fitzwilliam. As well as providing vital early strategic support and a grant of £100,000, the Art Fund also raised funds through
contributions from nearly 3,000 members, bringing in a further £142,000. The support of a number of other trusts and foundations was invaluable. We would also like to express gratitude to the National Gallery for displaying the painting prominently for several weeks in the autumn. This bolstered the campaign at a crucial stage by providing an appropriate national profile for the appeal, and garnered universal critical and popular support. The hugely generous donations and grants allowed the Fitzwilliam Museum to take advantage of an extraordinary opportunity provided by H.M. Government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme to acquire the painting for £3.9m instead of its market value of £14m.
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), Extreme Unction, 1638-1640 (detail)
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For the Museum, this is the most significant Old Master acquisition in nearly a century. It transforms the collections. The masterpiece is on special display in the Octagon Gallery until 5 May 2013. To celebrate this acquisition we have programmed two complementary lunchtime talks. See page 14 for details.