Spain has preempted two polychrome terracotta sculptures by Luisa Roldán, known as La Roldana, at an Abalarte auction on December 5, 2025. The works, *La Fuite en Égypte* and *L’Éducation de la Vierge*, each sold for €335,500 including fees. *La Fuite en Égypte* has been acquired by the Museo del Prado in Madrid, while *L’Éducation de la Vierge* has gone to the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid.
The preemptions are significant because they keep important works by a major Spanish Baroque sculptor in Spanish public collections, preventing their export. The article also notes a missed opportunity for French public collections in 2017, when Roldán’s *La Mise au tombeau* left France and was ultimately acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This acquisition underscores the ongoing competition among national museums to secure works by historically underrepresented female artists.