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The painting, which had been on loan at The National Gallery for 30 years, was at risk of being sold abroad. Then The Tate stepped in with the funding and secured the paintings future on British soil.

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Tate Britain's Director Nicholas Serota told the BBC this week:

'It's one of the quintessential images of 19th century British art and it's worth every penny...This is the one of Constable's most important paintings. He regarded it as one of his masterpieces and always wanted it to be in the national collection.' 

The painting, 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' was acquired for £23.1m, but could have sold for as much as £40m at auction. The acquisition was part of a partnership between five national and regional galleries: Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales; the National Galleries of Scotland; Colchester and Ipswich Museums; Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum; and Tate Britain. 

The work will be shown at Tate Britain until the end of the year before travelling around the UK.  Jenny Abramsky, from the Heritage Lottery Fund, said they were 'proud' to be a major funder of the masterpiece with a £15m investment. 

'It is unimaginable that this particular painting might have ended up anywhere other than in a UK public collection,' she said.

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