ANTIQUES and artworks from Castle Howard will be sold off this summer, to try and raise £10m for maintenance work.

A national newspaper has reported that the 18th-century stately home, which was used as the setting for the TV and film adaptations of Brideshead Revisited, will see works sold including a portrait of Henry VIII by Tudor court painter Hans Holbein, which is expected to fetch £1.2m.

It is dated 1542, the year that Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard – an ancestor of the current family – was beheaded.

The most expensive lot is a view of Venice’s Grand Canal by Bernardo Bellotto, pupil and nephew of Canaletto, with a pre-sale estimate of £2.5-£3.5 million.

Also going up for auction are a Roman vase, Venetian landscapes worth more than £3m, and a painting by Fernando Bol – one of Rembrandt’s pupils – which could sell for up to £3m. A pair of Italian pietre dure inlaid cabinets, which were made in Rome in the 17th century, are also expected to raise £1m.

Nicholas Howard, who manages the house, said: “I am privileged to be able to say that Castle Howard is my family’s heritage and has been since it was built over 300 years ago.

“With that privilege comes the responsibility of ownership, and the trustees’ unanimous decision to hold this sale is the exercise of that responsibility.

“If the sale helps to secure that heritage as the house moves into its fourth century then it will have achieved its goal.”

The collection at Castle Howard is considered by Sotheby’s to be “among the finest private art collections” in the world, and Mr Howard said the sale would not damage the integrity of the collection.

Simon Howard, who recently stepped down from running the estate after 30 years, said: “Now, as a new chapter in its history opens, the sales that we are planning at Sotheby’s will make an important contribution to the long-term future of the Castle Howard estate and collections.”

The Old Masters And Treasures auction will be held at Sotheby’s in London on July 8.