HC Deb 04 July 1961 vol 643 cc1219-20
7. Mr. McLaren

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what price was paid by the Trustees of the National Gallery for the picture Sunset Landscape with St. George and St. Anthony attributed to Giorgione.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

This is a matter for the Trustees, and it is their considered policy not to publish the prices which they pay for pictures.

Mr. McLaren

Are not the Trustees dealing with public money? If we knew the figure, should not we be better able to judge whether they had made a good or a bad bargain?

Mr. Lloyd

I do not think that it would be very wise for figures with regard to private sales to be made public. We might find that, as a result, more public money was being spent rather than less.