Belton House was given to the National Trust in 1984 by Edward John Peregrine Cust (b.1936), 7th Baron Brownlow, and has been home to three important collections of Old Masters. These were assembled by Sir John Brownlow (1690–1754), 5th Bt, Viscount Tyrconnel, who commissioned 'The Belton Conversation Piece' from Philippe Mercier; Sir Henry Bankes (1714–1774), who owned Boucher's 'La vie champêtre'; and Sir Abraham Hume (1749–1838), 2nd Bt, whose collection was one of the finest in the British Isles. It was largely sold by the 3rd and last Earl Brownlow whose soulful full-length portrait of his wife, Lady Adelaide Talbot (1844/1845–1917) by Lord Leighton remains with the distinguished collection of family portraits by leading artists, such as Peter Lely, Willem Wissing, John Riley and Godfrey Kneller.