Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The National Galleries of Scotland would not confirm a report in the Independent on Sunday that said a 50 million pound ($72.7 million) painting by Titian had been bought for the nation with help from the Scottish government.

“There have been a number of articles in recent weeks speculating on the outcome of the campaign,” John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said in an e-mail today. “The Independent on Sunday piece is another of these speculative pieces, which is not based on any information from us, London’s National Gallery or from Scottish government.”

The newspaper said yesterday, without saying how it got the information, that a 17.5 million-pound Scottish grant meant Titian’s “Diana and Actaeon,” currently on loan to the nation from the Duke of Sutherland, would be able to stay in the U.K. national collections.

“We hope to be able to make an announcement about the campaign in the coming weeks,” Leighton said in the e-mail.

If enough money is raised to buy the painting -- one of two 16th-century works the Renaissance artist executed for Philip II of Spain -- the two galleries would have the option to acquire, for a similar amount, another Titian, “Diana and Callisto,” by 2012.

If both paintings are bought, other works in the Duke’s Old Masters collection can stay on long-term loan at the National Gallery of Scotland.

“Diana and Actaeon” shows the chaste Diana being stalked by Actaeon while bathing in a grotto.

Dog Attack

The work currently hangs -- for the first time in two centuries -- at the National Gallery in London next to its sequel by Titian, “The Death of Actaeon,” which shows Diana getting her own back: Actaeon is turning into a stag, and being attacked by his own dogs.

“We will make an announcement when the appropriate arrangements for the purchase have been finalized,” a Scottish government spokesman, who requested not to be identified, said in an e-mail today. “We have made a significant funding pledge to the National Galleries of Scotland which was essential to get its fundraising campaign off the ground. The timing of any agreement is a matter for the galleries and the vendor.”

To contact the writer on this story: Farah Nayeri in London farahn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 5, 2009 07:27 EST