HC Deb 15 April 1859 vol 153 cc1825-6
MR. CONINGHAM

said he wished to ask the Right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer a question with respect to some recent purchases of paintings which have been made for the National Gallery. He perceived that three purchases of early Italian pictures had been recently made. One of them was said to be a picture of Marco Bassaiti, which he had carefully examined, and with respect to which he had consulted persons who had great experience in the purchase of pictures, who entirely agreed with him in the opinion that the whole surface of the picture had been restored, and that it had been so stippled over as to have been rendered worthless and worse than useless. In fact it was a disgrace to a national institution where none but models in art ought to be exhibited. There was also a picture by Cima de Conegliano which presented a most unfavourable specimen of restoration, and which he believed had been purchased for the National Gallery from some French dealer in Paris the third picture to which he would refer was one which was purchased from a gallery at Turin. It was formerly attributed to Moretto, but it was now said to be by Moroni. He must conclude, however, that it was not a genuine picture of that master, and that it was altogether a painting of an inferior character. Seeing that so large an expenditure of public money had been made in those purchases, he could not help calling the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the subject, for it amounted, in his opinion, almost to a malversation of the National Funds. The mistake which had been made in those purchases he could only attribute to an error in judgment; he should not even insinuate a graver charge. But that the public money had, in the instances to which he had just adverted, been improperly laid out, he was prepared to maintain, and he should, upon some future occasion, be prepared to bring the subject more at length under the notice of the House. Purchases such as those lowered and deteriorated our collection of pictures, and he therefore could not sit silent while paintings which he would not say might be referred to the class of mediocrity, but which were almost entirely worthless, were placed in the National Gallery.