France halts auction of rare Hans Baldung Grien drawing after national treasure designation

A planned auction in Paris has been abruptly postponed after a rare Renaissance drawing by Hans Baldung Grien was officially classified as a National Treasure by the French government—just days before it was set to go under the hammer. The work in question, Portrait of Susanna Pfeffinger (1517), was scheduled to be sold on March 23 at the Hôtel Drouot by Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés in collaboration with the Cabinet de Bayser. However, a decree issued on March 20 by France’s Minister of Culture confirmed the drawing’s new protected status, triggering an immediate export ban and halting the sale. The classification followed the recommendation of the Advisory Commission for National Treasures, which convened on March 18 and recognized the work’s exceptional importance to France’s cultural heritage. Both the commission’s opinion and the ministerial decree were published in the Journal officiel de la République française on March