A Van Dyck portrait of his friend Olivia Porter has been given to the nation in lieu of £2.8m inheritance tax after hanging for four centuries in the collections of the dukes of Northumberland.
Arts Council England said the portrait had been allocated to the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle, County Durham, and called it “a major acquisition for the north of England”.
It is a particular joy for the Bowes because it joins another portrait of Porter that languished in its museum store for decades until, in 2013, it was revealed to be by Anthony Van Dyck himself and not, as had been thought, an undistinguished copy.
The painting was given as part of the acceptance in lieu scheme, created by David Lloyd George when he was the chancellor in 1910 to allow people to pay death duties with outstanding works of art they might own.
The painting has an unbroken provenance. Bought by the 10th Earl of Northumberland, Algernon Percy, in the 17th century, it has been passed down through the family to the present-day Duke of Northumberland.
The painting will be included in an exhibition entitled English Rose at the Bowes next year featuring work by artists including Gainsborough, Reynolds and Millais.
Adrian Jenkins, the museum’s director, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate the gift of this wonderful portrait with its inclusion in our forthcoming exhibition. It will of course enhance the museum’s permanent collection.”
The work, considered one of Van Dyck’s finest female portraits, was painted in about 1637 when he was at the height of his career. Porter was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria and married to the artist’s close friend Endymion Porter, a picture agent to King Charles I.
