Court Rules Owner Of $13 Million Giotto Can’t Ship It Out Of UK

“[The London High Court] found that Arts Council England (ACE) was justified in rejecting an application to export [the painting] from Britain to Switzerland. The artwork was brought to Britain by Kathleen Simonis, who purchased it in Florence for about £3,500 in 1990, when it was thought to be an unremarkable 19th-century panel painting. Restoration work led to its subsequent upgrading to one of the most important painters of [the 14th-century Florentine] school.”