The Beauties of Stowe: Bacchantes dancing and lounging by the Temple of Ancient Virtue, c1804-5 was purchased from a London Art dealer for £22,500, with assistance from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund (£10,000), The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent art charity, (£5000), and the Patrons of Buckinghamshire County Museum (£4,500).

The name of Thomas Rowlandson is synonymous with the popular vision of late Georgian Britain. Born in London around 1756, he trained at the Royal Academy Schools where he swiftly developed a talent for draughtsmanship and caricatures. He travelled extensively around the country on sketching tours and this watercolour stems from a visit to Stowe, a popular tourist destination in Georgian times.

The Beauties of Stowe is a marvellous example of his work that delights in linking the idea of 'ancient virtue' as practised by the Ancient Greeks with scantily clad bacchantes in classical dress, set in a landscape where even the temple on the grassy mound has a sensual quality.

The Temple of Ancient Virtue still stands as a significant Buckinghamshire landmark at Stowe. Designed by William Kent it was erected in 1734 for Lord Cobham as part of one of the greatest landscaping schemes of the 18th century. The Beauties of Stowe joins an important collection of material at the Museum related to Stowe including works by John Piper, Jean Claude Nattes and Jacques Rigaud.

The watercolour will be on display from July 4.