Export ban placed on rare painting

A temporary export ban has been placed on a rare painting by Sir Peter Paul Rubens in a race to find a buyer so it can stay in the UK. The oil sketch on paper – Head of an African Man wearing at urban–could fetch £7,695,860 as it is one of the few existing examples of 17th century artwork which records an African in Europe.

Arts minister Michael Ellis imposed the temporary export ban on the painting, which has been in the UK for 100 years. He said: “Rubens was one of the great artists of the Golden Age.”