Poland purchased a collection that includes the painting Lady with an Ermine

Leonardo da Vinci: Lady with an Ermine (1488-90). Oil on wood, 40.3 × 54.8 cm.

Warsaw - The Polish government has purchased a private collection that includes the famous painting by the Italian master Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine. Warsaw paid one hundred million euros (2.7 billion CZK) for the collection of 86,000 works of art and thousands of other items, world agencies reported. However, various estimates suggest that the collection is valued between 2.3 and 2.4 billion euros (62 to 64 billion CZK).

The collection of artworks, gathered by the Polish noble family Czartoryski, was sold after complicated negotiations with the Polish Ministry of Culture by family member Adam Karol Czartoryski. According to the ministry, the goal of the Polish government in repurchasing the collection was to ensure that the rare works it contains would be preserved for future generations of Poles.

In addition to da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine, the collection, which has been on display in Krakow, also includes works by Rembrandt and August Renoir. Besides tens of thousands of works of art, it also contains about 250,000 manuscripts and other rare books.

The price at which Poland acquired the collection is, according to Culture Minister Piotr Gliński, "a fraction of its market value." Czartoryski stated at the signing of the contract that he feels as if he has donated the collection to the state.

Lady with an Ermine was created around 1490. It is one of four surviving female portraits by Leonardo da Vinci. It is one of the most valuable works located in Polish collections.