The Italian government is embroiled in a fresh controversy after a junior culture minister was placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago.
Vittorio Sgarbi, a well-known art critic, is also accused of tampering with the painting in order to disguise its origins.
Margherita Buzio, the owner of La Cattura di San Pietro (The Capture of Saint Peter), a painting by the artist Rutilio Manetti, reported the work stolen from her castle in Piedmont in 2013, telling police at the time that the canvas had been cut from its frame.
A person identified by Report as a friend of Sgarbi is alleged to have visited the castle a few weeks before to inquire about buying the painting.
In 2019, the painting was transferred to another restorer, by which time a candle had been added to the top left corner, allegedly to make it less identifiable.
Sgarbi has said the painting on show was the original version of The Capture of Saint Peter, which he said he found while restoring an abandoned villa bought by his mother in Viterbo in 2000.
The original article contains 466 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Italian government is embroiled in a fresh controversy after a junior culture minister was placed under investigation over allegations that a 17th-century painting in his possession was stolen from a castle more than a decade ago.
Vittorio Sgarbi, a well-known art critic, is also accused of tampering with the painting in order to disguise its origins.
Margherita Buzio, the owner of La Cattura di San Pietro (The Capture of Saint Peter), a painting by the artist Rutilio Manetti, reported the work stolen from her castle in Piedmont in 2013, telling police at the time that the canvas had been cut from its frame.
A person identified by Report as a friend of Sgarbi is alleged to have visited the castle a few weeks before to inquire about buying the painting.
In 2019, the painting was transferred to another restorer, by which time a candle had been added to the top left corner, allegedly to make it less identifiable.
Sgarbi has said the painting on show was the original version of The Capture of Saint Peter, which he said he found while restoring an abandoned villa bought by his mother in Viterbo in 2000.
The original article contains 466 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
CAPRA, CAPRA, CAPRA IGNORANTE