A public appeal has been launched to raise £10m to save the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I for Royal Museums Greenwich. The painting is being sold by the descendants of Sir Francis Drake, who have owned it since at least 1775. It may even have been commissioned by the sea captain in around 1590.

The Armada Portrait was conditionally exempt from inheritance tax, and four recent valuations suggest that it would fetch around £16.25m on the open market. But with the tax advantages of a private treaty sale, a price of £10m has been agreed for a national collection. The sale is being made by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family, who own Bereleigh house in Hampshire. Although only rarely on public display, the portrait was lent to exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum in 1998 and 2003.

The Art Fund has pledged £1m and is spearheading the fundraising campaign. It will be one of their biggest campaigns (others have been for the £10m Van Dyck self-portrait for the National Portrait Gallery and £15.75m for the Wedgwood Collection). Royal Museums Greenwich, which runs the National Maritime Museum, is providing £400,000. A grant application is expected to be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and is likely to be considered at their 26 July meeting. A consortium of supporters has pledged to match all donations from members of the public.

The allegorical portrait shows Elizabeth I surrounded by symbols of imperial power, with two background scenes depicting the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The queen’s fingers cover the Americas, indicating her plans to expand into the New World.

The artist of the Armada Portrait is unknown, although in the past it has been ascribed to George Gower or Nicholas Hilliard. There are two other versions from Elizabeth’s lifetime, at Woburn Abbey and the National Portrait Gallery—but the Tyrwhitt-Drake picture is believed to be the original. 

The Armada Portrait is now on display at the National Maritime Museum from today (23 May). The Art Fund hopes the £10m will be raised by July. If so, the painting will hang in the museum's Queen’s House, built on the site of Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Elizabeth I in 1533.