In the glory days of Empire, English art buyers plundered the riches of Italy, France and Greece. But since World War II, the down-at-heel British lion has been unable to compete with Americans, Japanese, and assorted European collectors in the all too open international art market. As a result they have begun to concentrate on simply hanging onto whatever treasures they already have. They rallied round to raise $4 million, thus saving a Titian. But another masterpiece —Velásquez's portrait of his assistant Juan de Pareja, for example, was snatched from them in 1970...
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