Botticelli painting remains in UK for exhibition at Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, has opened a display for a painting by Sandro Botticelli titled Virgin and Child Enthroned.

The Klesch Collection, a private London art collection, owns the work and agreed to a three year loan to the museum. The UK government blocked the export of the painting in May 2025 after it sold at Sotheby’s London for £9.7m in late 2024. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport valued the work at £9.96m plus tax.

Before appearing at the museum, the painting underwent conservation to remove old varnish and restore its original cooler tones. The artwork spent time in a convent in Florence before moving through various private owners in the early 20th century. It lived at Betterton House in Berkshire for several decades before its recent sale. The painting features a high amount of gold leaf, a technique that was less common by the time Botticelli created the piece in the 1470s.