The nation of Britain has ‘saved’ a work of art, an act that spells patriotism like nothing else. The iconic portrait of Queen Elizabeth I has been put into public ownership for the first time in its history, thanks to a public appeal and a large grant from the U.K.’s national lottery fund. The portrait was purchased, after thousands of donations to a fundraising campaign to keep the painting in Britain, according to auctioneers. The life-sized portrait that shows Elizabeth I in all her pomp, celebrates the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada,through its depictions of English fleet in calm waters and Spanish fleet being wrecked in a storm. The painting was being sold by the descendants of Francis Drake — the vice-admiral who co-led England’s defence against the attempted invasion. Royal Museums Greenwich — a group of four London museums — bought the oil painting from the Tyrwhitt-Drake family in a private sale, Christie’s auctioneers said, after £10.3 million ($13.6 million) was raised. £1.5 million for the painting came from more than 8,000 public donations raised since May, with the museum group putting up £400,000. Now part of the national collection, it will hang in the Queen’s House, built in 1616 on the site of the original Greenwich Palace in southeast London, which was queen Elizabeth’s birthplace.
