Hung in Yorkshire since 1852 - now government slaps ban on taking '˜Boy' abroad

The Government has placed a temporary export bar on Portrait of a Boy by Ferdinand Bol, which is believed to be of the artist’s eight-year-old son.

It was painted in 1652 and is considered to be one of the most remarkable child portraits of the Dutch Golden Age.

The painting has been on display at Castle Howard in Yorkshire since 1825 after it was bought by Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle.

It set a new record for Bol when it was sold in July 2015 at almost twice the estimated asking price.

Mr Vaizey said the artwork could be exported from the UK unless a buyer is found to match the asking price of £5,189,000 (plus VAT of £137,800).

Few of Bol’s portraits have survived and this is thought to be the finest example of his work in any public or private collection in Britain.

Bol worked at Rembrandt’s studio in Amsterdam where he helped to teach other apprentices. He left the studio in 1642 but his early work imitated Rembrandt’s style so closely that some were mistaken for that of the master.

Mr Vaizey said: “This important painting has been in this country for more than 200 years and I want to make sure it stays here. It is a rare portrait by one of the most successful artists from the Dutch Golden Era and the finest example left in the UK.”

The decision to defer an export licence follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), administered by Arts Council England.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds that the painting was of outstanding aesthetic importance and outstanding significance for the study of the work by Bol and of child portraiture in the Dutch Golden Age.

RCEWA member Lowell Libson said: “This remarkable and compellingly enigmatic portrait of a young man is the grandest and most complex of Ferdinand Bol’s rare portraits of children.

“Bol was perhaps the most talented of Rembrandt’s pupils, enjoying a highly successful career in Amsterdam, and this is undoubtedly the finest example of his work to survive in the UK.

“This presents an important opportunity to retain a key masterwork of the Golden Age of Dutch painting for a British collection.”

The decision on the export licence application will be deferred until April 25.

This may be extended until September 25 if a serious intention to raise funds to buy the painting is made at the recommended price.