Annapaola Negri-Clementi, Giorgia Ligasacchi and Valeria Tommasi write in We Wealth about the cost of delayed intervention in accurately dating historic artwork
min readAn incorrect reading of the date on a religious painting resulted in a fourteenth-century work being treated as a modest nineteenth-century piece and authorised for export from Italy to Switzerland. Restoration work subsequently revealed that the inscription read “1350”, rather than “1850”, leading to the work’s reattribution to the Master of the Parma Baptistery.
The discovery transformed the painting’s estimated value from approximately €38,000 to more than €500,000. However, the Italian Ministry’s attempt to reconsider and revoke the export authorisation came more than two years after it had been issued. In 2026, the Council of State held that the intervention had exceeded the statutory time limit for administrative self-review.
The case illustrates how errors made during attribution and export assessments can become irreversible once the period for administrative intervention has expired. It also underlines the need for specialist expertise, robust assessment methods and clearer protocols when determining the age and cultural significance of artworks.
Annapaola Negri-Clementi, Partner, Giorgia Ligasacchi, Senior Art Consultant, and Valeria Tommasi, Senior Associate, in our Corporate team, write in We Wealth. Read the full article here.
