U.K. Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has placed a temporary export ban on Venice Triumphant, one of three surviving drawings by the Renaissance master Paolo Veronese, executed in preparation for his well-known 1585 painting The Apotheosis of Venice. The work was commissioned by the Venetian government as part of the restoration of the Doge’s Palace after it was gutted by fire twice, in 1574 and 1577. The drawing, which was acquired by the 11th Earl of Pembroke in 1772, passed to the Viscount Lascelles, Earl of Harewood, 1917. The 8th Earl of Harewood recently sold it to an anonymous foreign buyer. The export ban, which is set to expire on June 28, may be extended until December 28, allowing enough time for British officials to find a private or institutional buyer in the United Kingdom willing to pay £15.4 million, plus a 10 percent VAT ($22 million in total), to match the drawing’s recent sale price so that it may remain in the country.
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