Focus on Extreme Unction (Poussin) and discuss the Acquisition by the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The set of Sacraments is no longer complete: one, Penance, was destroyed by fire in 1816, Baptism was sold around 1939 and is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Ordination was sold in 2011 to the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. As a result of this last sale, and consequent Inheritance Tax, the Fitzwilliam Museum was offered through H.M. Government's Acceptance in Lieu scheme the unique opportunity to purchase the painting for £3.9 million from the Trustees of the 11th Duke of Rutland 2000 Settlement, a fraction of its agreed value, £14,000,000. Dr Stephen Deuchar (Art Fund Director) described the acquisition for the Fitzwilliam Museum as the most important Old Master painting to enter the Museum for almost a century.
Acceptance in Lieu National Gallery of Art Inheritance Tax set of Sacraments Fitzwilliam Museum Duke of Rutland Art Fund Kimbell Art Museum