The destiny of one of Scotland's iconic paintings will be revealed today when the deadline for the National Galleries of Scotland to acquire Landseer's The Monarch of the Glen.
The owners of the painting, the drinks giant Diageo, entered into an agreement with the galleries (NGS) last year which gave them four months to raise £4m to purchase the famous painting.
By mid February, the galleries had to raise the final £750,000 to reach the asking price.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has agreed to support the campaign with a donation of £2.75m and the Art Fund has also gifted £350,000.
It is expected that today the galleries will announce the success or failure of their bid to secure Landseer's much-reproduced painting of a stag in a mountainous setting.
Sir John Leighton, director general of the NGS, said when the agreement was reached: "The ideal home for such an important and resonant picture is the Scottish National Gallery where it can be enjoyed and admired by millions of visitors in the context of the nation’s unrivalled collection of Scottish, British and European art."
The painting, on the walls of the National Museum of Scotland for many years, has been in private and corporate collections since it was painted in 1851.
It was due to be sold by Diageo at auction house Christie's before the deal was reached with the galleries.
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