Letter: 'Three Graces': we can keep the spare

Sir: For David Coombs to play on the uniqueness of the ex-Woburn Abbey Canova ('A unique loss to British culture', Letters, 1 October) seems a little misguided when, sitting not so far away in Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, there is another, virtually identical, marble sculpture of the 'Three Graces' by the same artist.

If the ex-Woburn Abbey Canova really is so very British (though it always seemed more Italian to me), why can't we be proud of its purchase by the Getty Museum, and be pleased that thousands more people of all sorts of nationalities will be able to see it and learn about and appreciate British culture? Surely it is more culturally intelligent to shout about our greatest works of art through the museums of the world than to mutter about them in our own back yard. Especially if we have another one in reserve.

Yours faithfully,

SANDY MALLETT

London, SW6