LONDON—Recently declassified British government papers, almost shredded in 1982, detail how in 1976 a British Museum director was allowed to take a Carracci painting from his personal collection out of Britain without following customary export procedures for artwork.

The Art Newspaper reports that the just-uncovered scandal involved then National Gallery Director Michael Levey, who allowed the British Museum’s director, John Pope-Hennessy, to get an export license without the usual delay to allow a U.K. public collection to match the price. Pope-Hennessy was offered a post at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as head of its paintings department and decided to take Carracci’s The Vision of St. Francis along with two other Italian works with him to the U.S.

Levey later admitted he had recommended that an export license for the Carracci not be deferred because it was owned by a fellow museum director. He was almost reprimanded by the former Department of Education and Science, and the scandal came close to being disclosed. Levey eventually apologized to the Export Reviewing Committee, and behind the scenes, officials managed to defuse the crisis, fearing the publicity would damage the government.

Read more at the Art Newspaper.