F
or hundreds of years, the French baroque artist Nicolas Poussin’s Eucharist has been lauded for its exquisite use of light and shadow.
The painting, dating from 1637-40, was described as “one of the greatest of the Last Supper” by the National Gallery in London, which acquired it in March last year.
The gallery’s many visitors — 3.2 million last year — can now see it without charge thanks to an unlikely benefactor: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Under a little-known scheme, the painting was permanently handed to the National Gallery last year in lieu of a £6.5 million inheritance tax bill — one of 33 paintings that ended up at the gallery for a similar reason.
