 Shortly afterwards, in 1991, he identified the "Madonna of the Pinks" belonging to the Duke of Northumberland as a genuine Raphael, and not a copy of a lost original as was previously supposed.The painting came to public prominence in 2002 when the Gallery undertook a major fundraising campaign in order to prevent the painting's sale to the Getty Center in Los Angeles.Earlier that year Penny made an unsuccessful bid for the directorship of the National Gallery, the post going to Charles Saumarez Smith.