The Italian government is under pressure to prevent the sale of a 16th-century Roman villa, which contains a ceiling painted by the famous Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, popularly known as Caravaggio. The Casino dell'Aurora is set to be auctioned on January 18, with an estimated value of around 471 million euros (533 million dollars). The initial valuation of the property is exorbitant, even for a villa covering 2,800 square meters on a 6,000 square meter plot near Via Veneto. This is primarily due to the mural painted on the ceiling of the house, which is valued at least 300 million euros on its own.
Politicians, academics, and citizens in Italy have appealed to Prime Minister Mario Draghi to cancel the auction. An online petition has also been launched to urge the government to protect this cultural heritage, which has been signed by over 32,000 people within a few days. Under Italian law, the government can exercise its right to refuse the sale to private investors within 60 days of the sale agreement, according to Bloomberg, as reported by Al Arabiya.net.
The Italian Ministry of Culture has written to Draghi and Finance Minister Daniele Franco to inquire about the possibility of securing funds to make a government offer and prevent the sale of the house. The property, also known as Casino di Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi, was built in 1570 initially as a hunting lodge and has been owned by the Ludovisi family since the early 17th century. Among its visitors over the years was author Henry James, who described the villa and its stunning views in his memoirs from 1909, along with “Italian Hours.”
Following the death of Prince Niccolò Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2018, the property became the subject of an inheritance battle between his three children from his first marriage and his third wife, Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, who was born in Texas. The widow of Ludovisi was previously married to U.S. Congressman John Jenrette, who was jailed in the 1980s in the bribery scandal known as Abscam. An Italian court recently ordered the villa, including its private gardens, rooftop terraces, and priceless art treasures, to be put up for public auction.
In addition to the high cost of the house, any buyer will need to spend up to 11 million euros more for restoration. The house is not only adorned with the Caravaggio mural known as “Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto,” measuring 2.75 meters and painted on plaster, but the six-story building also features works that blend Roman marble tombs with rare murals, including one in the main reception hall designed by the Italian painter Guercino depicting the Roman goddess Aurora, which is the name that gives this house its title. Real estate experts estimate that the Italian villa could rival the record for the most expensive home sale in the world, which was set in 2015 for the "Ho Tung" mansion in Hong Kong at 654 million dollars.
