Titian's masterpiece Diana and Actaeon is set to be saved for the nation after a series of pledges put the fundraising campaign on track to achieve the £50m asking price.

The Scottish government will this week announce that it will donate about £10m, while the National Gallery in London will pledge about £12m and the National Galleries of Scotland a further £2m.

Money will also come from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Until now, £11m had been publicly pledged. Another £8m is coming from private donors.

This weekend sources close to the campaign said they were confident that the £50m total would be reached before the December 31 deadline.

Times Archive, 1933: The Bridgewater Titians

'Actaeon' is the most complete and satisfying of the paintings, as it is the one that has suffered least by time

• The conservation of pictures

• Picture: The vapour chamber used by Mr Kennedy North for the conservation of Titian's painting, Diana and Actaeon

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The Titian and its companion piece, Diana and Callisto, belong to the seventh Duke of Sutherland and form part of his Bridgewater collection, which has been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland since 1945.

If the galleries secure Diana and Actaeon, they will have a further four years to buy the sister work.

Once saved, Diana and Actaeon, which is regarded as one of the finest Renaissance works in private hands, will be shared by the national galleries in Edinburgh and London, with each taking it for five years at a time.

Sir Timothy Clifford, former director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled by this news.”

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