THE Government now says that a lost work of art discovered at a North Yorkshire stately home could be heading out of the country forever.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that a temporary export ban imposed on a Michelangelo drawing would not be renewed.

The portrait of a mourning woman (pictured) had lain forgotten in Castle Howard's library for more than 250 years.

Simon Howard sold the study after a Sotheby's expert identified it as a lost Michelangelo - it would have been prohibitively expensive to insure.

The drawing has been bought by an anonymous American private collector from a London-based dealer who paid almost £6m for it at an auction in 2001.

But arts minister Baroness Blackstone placed an order last November to keep the drawing in Britain.

The Department of Culture said that the ban "reflects the drawing's outstanding aesthetic quality and importance for study." But a spokeswoman said: "The deferral period has not been extended."

She said she could not confirm if the drawing would now be leaving Britain - because the issue of whether an export license is granted is "commercially confidential."

Only when the reviewing committee for the export of works of art publishes its annual report, due at the end of the year, will the fate of the rare sketch become known.

*The Michelangelo drawing is the second major work of art sold from Castle Howard which has been subject to an export ban.

The Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds, sold for £10.3m, was put under an export ban in December.

A panel of exports said "every possible effort should be made to raise funds to retain it."

British Institutions were given an initial three months to raise £12.5m to ensure the work of art does stay.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, February 05, 2003