Italy pays 30 million euros for a Caravaggio, one of its most expensive acquisitions

More than a year of negotiations to afford a masterpiece. The Italian state paid 30 million euros for the acquisition of a rare portrait by the painter Caravaggio, one of his “largest investments ever made” for the purchase of a work of art, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.

“After more than a year of negotiations, we announce the purchase (…) of an extraordinary masterpiece by Caravaggio, the Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini »added the same source cited in a press release. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said the purchase “combined with the recentBehold the Man by Antonello da Messina, is part of a broader project to strengthen the national cultural heritage ».

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Authenticated in the 1960s

The Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini represents the future Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644) when he was around thirty years old. Born in 1568, this extremely wealthy humanist, a figure of high Roman society, was elected in 1623 to the throne of Saint Peter, which he occupied until his death in 1644.

The painting, authenticated in 1963 by the art critic Roberto Longhi, was part of the Barberini family collection for centuries before passing into private hands when its assets were dispersed in the 1930s.

The ministry did not specify the identity of the previous owners of the painting, who had agreed, from November 2024, to lend it on an exceptional basis to the Barberini Palace, the historic residence of this family which now houses the National Gallery of Ancient Art, where it had been exhibited for several months.

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Sixty Caravaggios

The portrait will now be part of the permanent collection of the Palazzo Barberini, which already houses four works by Caravaggio, including Judith beheading Holofernes et Narcisse. According to the Italian Ministry of Culture, some 65 paintings, including only three portraits, are attributed to the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known as Caravaggio (1571-1610), master of chiaroscuro, forgotten for three centuries before his genius was recognized in the 1950s.

A month ago, the Italian Ministry of Culture had already purchased the painting for $14.9 million (around 12.5 million euros), during an auction at Sotheby’s. Behold the Man painted in the 15th century^e century by the Sicilian Antonello da Messina.