EDINBURGH.- In a joint statement on behalf of the National Galleries of Scotland and National Gallery London, Patricia Converey, Head of Press said, " There has been very good progress in both fund-raising and the negotiation of terms for this important acquisition. Our efforts to bring the campaign to a successful conclusion continue and we hope to be able to make an announcement in the coming weeks."

She continued saying, "There has been many speculative reports in the last few weeks about various amounts which have been pledged to the campaign. The only official announcement so far on any funding has been £1 million from The Art Fund and £10 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund."

Titian’s Diana and Actaeon is on offer at a significantly reduced price of £50million to National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery in London from the Bridgewater collection, which has been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland since 1945. This is the most important private collection of Old Master paintings on loan to an institution in the UK and counts among the most important anywhere in the world.

The owner has offered the Galleries the opportunity to acquire two masterpieces from the collection on extremely generous terms: Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto, both by Titian. The two Titians are arguably the finest works in the Bridgewater Loan. They were both painted as part of a cycle of works for Philip II of Spain and they represent a highpoint in Italian Renaissance art. If successful in acquiring Diana and Actaeon, the two Galleries will be granted an option, exercisable at any point up until the end of 2012, to acquire the second picture, Diana and Callisto, for a similar amount.