West altarpiece barred from export
February 4 2014
Picture: DCMS
A large and lovely altarpiece by Benjamin West being scandalously sold by the Church of England to a US museum has been temporarily barred from export. The picture, Devout Men Taking the Body of St Stephen, used to hang in St Stephen's Walbrook in London, as shown below. But after a frankly bizarre judgement in the CofE's Consistory Court last year the picture was sold to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, for £1.75m. A UK institution, if any is interested (which I doubt) will have to raise that sum to keep the painting in Britain. More details on the export bar here.
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