21 SEPTEMBER 1974, Page 7

A minor work

Eyebrows, are raised in the art world over the National Gallery's acquisition of Taillasson's indigestible painting of 'Virgil reading the Aeneid to Augustus and Octavia'. Benezit records in his Dictionnarre des Peintres et des Sculpteurs that: "Taillasson's oeuvres sont froides et conventionnelles", and it is no surprise that his works were not represented in the exhibition 'The Age of Neo-Classicism' held at the Royal Academy under the auspices of the Council of Europe in 1972. The picture is reputed to have come from the cellars of the Heim Gallery, where it has lain gathering dust

for years. The public can only hope that the National Gallery have not invested more than £500 in this minor work.