A temporary export ban has been placed on an early 17th-century painting, one of the most refined of the paradise landscapes by Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Elder, in an attempt to keep it in the UK.

"The Garden of Eden With the Fall of Man" (1613), an oil on copper work measuring just 23.7cm by 36.8 cm, was set to go overseas after selling at Sotheby’s in London in July for £6.8 million, more than double the top estimate. It had been acquired by Algernon Percy, the fourth Duke of Northumberland, in 1853 and had hung in Alnwick Castle but was recently consigned for sale by the present Duke of Northumberland.