Guardi Ban

Culture minister Ed Vaizey has slapped a temporary export ban on Francesco Guardi's View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (1760s), which fetched a Guardi record of £26.7m at Sotheby's London auction last July. The ban holds until July 2012, which gives ample time to beg for the readies (title link). As it isn't one of his best paintings and as the UK is in hock, I'd be tempted to let it go.