- Written by Mark Loewen
- BBC Rome correspondent
image source, Getty Images
Junior Culture Minister Vittorio Sgarbi is also a prominent art critic, historian, and television personality.
Italy’s junior culture minister has been accused of possessing and displaying a stolen 17th-century painting, a charge he denies.
The latest allegations against Italian government officials center on prominent art critic Vittorio Sgarbi.
Sgarbi is under investigation for laundering stolen goods after exhibiting the painting in a 2021 exhibition.
“The Capture of St. Peter” was reported stolen in 2013.
Paintings by Rutilio Manetti, a follower of Baroque master Caravaggio, were once displayed in a castle in Piedmont, northern Italy.
Sugarbi, a TV personality known for his foul language and who has been convicted of numerous defamation charges, was also accused of altering the painting by adding a candle to the top corner, allegedly in an attempt to conceal its origin. has been accused.
The politician said he discovered the piece while restoring a villa his mother bought more than 20 years ago. He claims the painting is an original, but that it was a copy that was stolen in 2013.
The allegations were revealed in an investigation by the Italian TV station Rai’s program “Report.” The castle owner who reported the painting’s theft told journalists that the canvas was cut from its frame in 2013. He also said a friend of Mr. Sgarbi had previously visited the property and expressed interest in purchasing the work.
The “report” also said that another friend of the politician was later found to have given the damaged “Capture of St. Peter” painting to a restorer. The hole is said to be the same size as a piece of canvas that was cut from the frame of a castle in Piedmont in 2013.
By the time Sgarbi exhibited the restored work in 2021, a candle had been added to the top corner of the painting.
The composite image used in the report shows the difference between the original work on the right and the copy on the left.
The deputy minister is also currently facing charges related to another work, a painting worth 5 million euros (approximately 430 million yen), said to be by French painter Valentin de Boulogne and seized by police in Monte Carlo. There is. Mr. Sgarbi is under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of illegally exporting paintings. He said it was a copy and not his. The BBC has contacted Mr Sgarbi but has not received a response.
Opposition parties have called for Sgarbi’s removal from office, and the Five Star Movement has announced that it will submit a motion to parliament calling for his removal.
Meloni’s Italian Brothers party remains highly popular in opinion polls, and his right-wing coalition appears stable for now.
But all parties will be looking to exploit weaknesses and opportunities in the run-up to June’s European elections. There are already public tensions between him and his coalition partner Matteo Salvini.
This year could be the year when Italian politics gets even worse. And the Prime Minister will be hoping that there will be no more than three scandals.