Mr. Paul Larsen, the London dealer, who was connected with the sale to the National Gallery, said recently.
"The suggestion that the pictures were sent out of Italy by air and against regulations which prohibit the export of recognised works of art is fantastic, "A friend of mine bought the panels in Venice and took them to Vienna by train, From Vienna they were brought, as far as I can gather, train and boat in the normal manner.
There is not the least reason to suppose that any regulations were broken at any stage of the transaction.
"The Italian law provides that works of art which bear the official stamp of the Italian authorities are to be regarded as treasures and may not be exported, The panels in question were not stamped.
"I can only conclude that the authorities are now annoyed that such treasures should not have been recognized by their own experts at their true worth."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.