Art: The Duke Stays Home

The most famous portrait of the Duke of Wellington was painted by a foreigner —Spanish fellow by the name of Goya—and caught the duke just as he looked the day after his victory at Salamanca in 1812. Britain thus regards the portrait as a national treasure. When U.S. Oilman Charles B. Wrightsman bought the Duke of Wellington at auction (TIME. June 23). Britain-firsters of all kinds raised pained howls of protest. Collector Wrightsman thereupon offered to sell it to London’s National Gallery at cost—the $392,000 that he had paid for it. Last week. Chancellor of the Exchequer Selwyn Lloyd announced that the National Gallery had raised the money (£40,000 from the treasury. £100,000 from a foundation established by Chain Store Tycoon Isaac Wolfson), would buy the painting and display it permanently.