Photo Credit; Getty Images
The Italian government has purchased a painting by the Baroque master Caravaggio for €30 million ($34.8 million). The artwork, a portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini (who later became Pope Urban VIII), was acquired from a private collection in Florence. Italy’s culture minister described the piece as being of "exceptional importance" and noted that the sale is part of a strategy to keep major cultural works in public hands.
Caravaggio, master of a lighting technique to make his subjects seem to come alive, has about 65 surviving known works worldwide, only three of which are portraits.
The painting has been transferred to the permanent collection of the Palazzo Barberini - the historic home of the family of the portrait's subject in Rome - where it was first exhibited.
It will be displayed alongside other works by the artist.
Painted in about 1598, it shows Barberini as a bearded cleric apparently issuing instructions with his right hand outstretched.
Barberini was elected to the papacy in 1623 and served until his death in 1644. He was known as a prominent patron of the arts.
Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said in a statement that the acquisition was "part of a broader project to strengthen the national cultural heritage that the Ministry of Culture will continue to pursue in the coming months, with the aim of making some art history masterpieces accessible to scholars and enthusiasts that would otherwise be destined for the private market".
"I would like to thank all the institutions, officials, and technicians who have worked with great skill and dedication to achieve such an important result," he added.
Caravaggio, whose real name was Michelangelo Merisi, died in 1610 at the age of 38.
