A UK judge rules that a $13 million Giotto cannot be exported anywhere—but home to Italy

ARTNEWS
By Sarah Coscone

This Madonna and Child. reattributed to Giotto, is stuck in legal limbo thanks to a British judge's ruling that the UK does not have the authority to issue an export license. The judge found that the painting had been illegally exported from Italy.

A UK judge says a Giotto painting worth £10 million ($13.2 million) isn’t going anywhere but home. In a decision delivered on Monday, Judge Justice Carr upheld the Arts Council England’s refusal to grant an export license for the work, which is currently in Britain. But unlike most export disputes in the UK, this isn’t a matter of trying to preserve a treasure for the nation. The question, instead, is whether the artwork was in the country legally to begin with. According to the ruling, the painting, titled Madonna and Child, was illegally exported from Italy in 2007. Therefore, the UK cannot grant a new export license other than to facilitate its return there, the Guardian reports. [More]