'Losing this picture from Britain would be like France losing the Mona Lisa..'.

Byline: BY MAGGIE BARRY

THIS Renaissance masterpiece could be flogged to a private foreign collector unless pounds 50million can be found to keep it on display in Britain.

The cost of losing Diana and Actaeon, by Titian, would be "incalculable", declared its guardian, the National Galleries of Scotland.

Its director-general John Leighton added: "I think it would be hard to exaggerate the misfortune it would be. In our terms it would be like the Mona Lisa being taken out of the Louvre, or the Uffizi gallery in Florence losing its Botticellis."

The painting, one of the Bridgewater Collection of Old Masters, has been on loan in Edinburgh since 1945. It is one of a pair being sold by the 7th Duke of Sutherland.

Despite being worth up to pounds 300million on the open market, the two masterpieces are being offered jointly to London's National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland for pounds 100million.

They have until the end of the year to come up with the cash - and are pleading with the Scottish government and Westminster to help.

Scottish LibDem leader Tavish Scott warned it would be a "sad day for Scotland" if the picture was sold, adding: "These paintings are a real draw for visitors."

The pictures, done for Phillip II of Spain, were among the first Old Masters to be put on show.

Enthusiasts could see them in a London house on certain days from as early as 1806 and they have been displayed almost ever since.

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TREASURE Titian's Diana and Actaeon