UK export license denied for Pontormo portrait

The National Gallery today (16 February) confirmed that it raised 30,618,987 to buy a portrait by Pontormo. A spokeswoman says that unfortunately, the owner has decided not to accept the offer, after a UK export licence was deferred to allow a matching offer. Tom Hill, a New York hedge funder, had paid for the Portrait of a Young Man in a Cap (1530) in 2015. Since then the value of the pound against the dollar has plunged, and he says he would lose over $10m (now 8m) by accepting a ma