The only surviving shirt belonging to Admiral Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar, his armchair from the HMS Victory, and an exquisite Pre-Raphaelite painting, are among the items transferred to the nation in recent months as a result of a tax scheme that encourages the preservation of the nation’s heritage, it was announced today.
Decisions on which public collections will be given items previously acquired for permanent display under the scheme have also been revealed. These include the National Gallery, which has been allocated Carlo Portelli’s The Charity of Saint Nicholas of Bari. St Nicholas, the subject of the painting, was the origin of the legend of Santa Claus. When it goes on display next year, it will be the first time it has been open to view by the public.
A painting entitled Music, by Edward Burne-Jones, one of the best-known of the Pre-Raphaelites (an artistic movement founded in 1848) depicts two women in flowing robes, one holding a sheet of music from which the other reads while playing a stringed instrument. Regarded as one of the artist’s masterpieces, it will go on display for the first time since 1901.
These are just some of the £3m worth of cultural treasures, settling just over £2.2m of tax, which have been transferred to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax in recent months.
The list also includes furniture at Nostell Priory in Yorkshire, a collection of Roman and Medieval iron tools from Norfolk and a set of 19th century fake ‘medieval’ manuscripts.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), on behalf of the government, allows items deemed to be national treasures to be given to the nation in place of inheritance tax.
It was also announced today that many objects previously accepted through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme have now been permanently allocated to public institutions in cities across the UK, including Leeds, Oxford, London, Manchester, Hull, Edinburgh, York, Bath and Glasgow.
MLA Chair Mark Wood said: “It is suitably fitting that a time of year when people are beginning to turn their mind to Christmas traditions, the destiny of a picture of Saint Nicholas that has never before been on public display is settled for the benefit of the public as a whole.”
Jonathan Scott, Chairman of the AIL Panel, said “It is particularly rewarding in considering where heritage items ultimately best belong, to know that the public are going to enjoy them in a variety of settings throughout the UK for generations to come.”
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