LONDON, ENGLAND.-Culture Minister, David Lammy, has placed a temporary export bar on the Codex Stosch, considered to be the most telling record of Raphael’s famous scheme to record the great buildings of ancient Rome at a time when they were under threat of demolition. This will provide a last chance to raise the money to keep the Codex in the United Kingdom.

The Minister’s ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Committee recommended that the export decision be deferred on the grounds that the Codex is of outstanding significance for the study of architectural history and, in particular, architectural approaches to ancient buildings during the High Renaissance.

The whereabouts of the Codex was unknown since the eighteenth century, and it was rediscovered only recently. It contains reconstructions by Giovanni Battista da Sangallo (1496-1548) of 16 ancient buildings in Rome and the temples of Hercules and Castor and Pollux at nearby Cori. Giovanni Battista was part of a circle studying antique architecture, of which Raphael was at the centre. The Codex is accompanied by a transcription in the hand of Baron Philipp von Stosch of a letter written by Celio Calcagnini to Jacob Ziegler, concerning Raphael’s efforts at the command of Pope Leo X to create a topographical map and reconstruction on paper of ancient Rome. The highly detailed and carefully measured drawings reflect a standardised drawing method advocated by Raphael which was new and innovative at the time the Codex was created. The buildings are represented in plan, elevation and section and are drawn to the same scale, enabling comparison.

The decision on the export licence application for the Codex will be deferred for a period ending on 11 December 2005 inclusive. This period may be extended until 11 March 2006 inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase the Codex at the recommended price of £274,417.50 (excluding VAT) is expressed.

Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the Codex should contact the owner’s agent through:

The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council,
83 Victoria Street,
London.
SW1H 0HW