Italian police have seized an allegedly stolen 17th-century painting that is at the center of an investigation focused on Italy’s next culture minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, the latest scandal for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government. deepened.
Rutilio di Lorenzo Manetti’s “The Capture of Saint Peter” disappeared in 2013, starting a 10-year search for the Caravaggio-style artwork, valued at around 200,000 euros. In 2021, prominent art critic Sgarbi exhibited a nearly identical painting under his new name at an art exhibition, which caught the attention of an Italian journalist who published an exposé in December.
Prosecutors seized the painting for analysis on Friday and are investigating Sgarbi on suspicion of laundering stolen goods, the Carabinieri police’s art heritage unit said.
The centre-right politician denies all accusations and claims he found the artwork in the house his mother bought in northern Rome.
“There is nothing to be afraid of. I will protect myself in every possible way from those who speculate on this matter and from those who are complicit in it,” Sgarbi said. declared Saturday. The politician is also under investigation by Italian antitrust authorities for allegedly accepting large sums of money to appear at cultural events.
Opposition politicians are gleefully mocking Meloni’s government’s latest gaffes and calling for Sgarbi’s removal. Earlier this month, the Prime Minister was forced to suspend politicians from his far-right Brotherhood of Italy party after a gun he owned accidentally went off at a New Year’s Eve party. The politician denied firing the gun but refused to submit to a gunpowder residue test.