A £28 million Monet painting could leave the UK unless a buyer is found.
Le Palais Ducal is one of a small number of the French Impressionist painter’s depictions of Venice.
Arts Minister Rebecca Pow has now placed a temporary export bar on the work, in the hope that a UK buyer can be found.
She said: “Monet is one of the world’s most famous and celebrated artists and his works still resonate more than 100 years on.
“With his trademark ingenuity he managed to capture the changing ways people viewed nature and the world around them at the turn of the century.
“This is a rare and beautiful example of Monet’s Venetian studies and I hope that the funds can be raised to keep this treasure in the UK.”
Monet (1840-1926) began the work when he visited Italy in 1908 with his second wife Alice, on a break from painting his famous Water Lilies series.
He is thought to have finished the painting, showing a sunlit Doge’s Palace and its reflection in the water, at his home in Giverny, France, from around 1911 to 1912.
Monet planned to return to the city but was unable to in 1909 because of Alice’s failing health.
Aidan Weston-Lewis, member of the reviewing committee on the export of works of art and objects of cultural interest, said: “This would be a highly desirable and no doubt very popular addition to any public collection in the UK.”
The decision on the export licence applications for the painting will be deferred until November 8.