Italy has bought a rare portrait of a future pope by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros ($A48.6 million), the country’s Culture Ministry said on Tuesday. Source: Crux.
The portrait, painted around 1598 and attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII.
The painting was acquired from a private collection by the Italian state after more than a year of negotiations and will now enter Rome’s Palazzo Barberini permanent collection.
“This is a work of exceptional importance,” Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said in a statement, noting the painting was a turning point in Caravaggio’s modern rediscovery and its purchase has helped strengthen the presence of his works in Italian public collections.
The new acquisition follows a recent one of Antonello da Messina’s Ecce Homo, and is part of Italy’s broader project to strengthen the national cultural heritage, making historical art masterpieces accessible to scholars and the public.
The Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini depicts the future pope in his 30s, dressed as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, at a crucial moment in his rise to power.
The work was made famous by art critic Roberto Longhi in his 1963 article, The true ‘Maffeo Barberini’ of Caravaggio, and has since been widely recognised by critics as a work by Caravaggio.
Longhi called the painting “one of the founding moments of modern portraiture”, emphasising how Caravaggio ushered in a new psychological intensity.
Caravaggio revolutionised painting at the turn of the 17th century by introducing a dramatic use of light that became the cornerstone of the Baroque style. He is one of the most studied artists in the world, yet the number of his confirmed works remains limited.
At Palazzo Barberini, the portrait will be displayed alongside Caravaggio’s other works – one of the world’s most important collections – in particular along another of Caravaggio’s masterpieces, Judith Slaying Holofernes, purchased by the Italian state in 1971.
FULL STORY
Italy buys Caravaggio painting of future Pope for about $35 million, one of its largest payouts for a single work (By Giada Zampano, Crux)
