EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.- One of Pablo Picasso's most famous works has been acquired by Scotland, it was announced today. The work was accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the collection at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson today unveiled the etching Weeping Woman I, 1937, at the Gallery.

Ms Ferguson said: "I am delighted that such a rare piece of work has been secured for the National Galleries of Scotland.

"As well as providing a valuable insight into one of Picasso's most famous paintings, the etching is an important piece of modern European history, and I would urge both those living in Scotland and those visiting from overseas to experience it for themselves."

Picasso was commissioned in January 1937 to paint a mural for the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris. Following the German bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in April 1937, Picasso changed his plans to focus on the horror of the killing, with one of his principal studies showing a weeping woman. Picasso made a number of drawings and paintings of this figure.

In Weeping Woman I, Picasso shows us a woman in profile, yet both her eyes are seen. Her face is contorted with pain and suffering. The print went through seven separate versions, with this and the seventh and final version being widely regarded as one of the greatest prints of the twentieth century.

The etching acquired by the Galleries was bought by Roland Penrose in or around 1937, not long after Picasso had made it. Penrose subsequently gave the print to Joanna Drew, a close personal friend with whom he co-organised two major Picasso exhibitions. Upon Drew's death in 2003, the print was accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the collection at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art where a substantial Penrose archive is housed.

Richard Calvocoressi, Director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art said: "It is one of Picasso's most moving images, and a very rare print. Joanna Drew was a great supporter of this Gallery."