Two major paintings by Anton van Dyck still in private hands will be soon exhibited permanently in the National Gallery in London. The portrait of François Langlois painted circa 1630 has been bought by the museum, jointly with the Barbet Institute of Fine Arts of Birmingham for some US $ 7, 8 million dollars.
It belonged to Lord Cowdray, head of the Pearsons press group, who died two years ago at 84.
Another van Dyck work, the portrait of the abbott Cesare Alessandro Scaglia, has been loaned by the Camrose family to the National Gallery which is interested in its purchase.