Family feud casts shadow over future of Roman villa with Caravaggio mural
A 16th century villa in Rome with the world's only known ceiling painting by Caravaggio has failed to attract a buyer despite four court-ordered auctions in less than a year.
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Villa Aurora - named in homage to the Roman goddess of dawn – is at the centre of a bitter inheritance battle between a Texas-born princess and her stepsons following the death of Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, whose family has owned it for 400 years.
The original asking price was 471 million euros, which was reduced each time it went under the hammer down to 241 million euros.
It is set to be auctioned again online on 12 January through a website that deals with bankruptcy property. The new base price is 105 million euros.
Contested will
Prince Nicolo's third wife, Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, who is American, has been at odds with her late husband’s three sons over the property.
They contested their father’s will, which said she could live in the three-storey villa for the rest of her life and that, if sold, the proceeds would be divided between the princess and her stepsons.
The villa, which has never been open to the public, is home to the only surviving mural by the 16th and 17th artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio – the subject of new Italian-French film directed by Michele Placido.
A new Italian-French film on the celebrated painter, directed by Michele Placido, is about to be released.
The ceiling oil painting alone is estimated to be worth 310 million euros. It features the gods Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, gathered around a translucent globe and marked by signs of the zodiac.
Princess Rita has said that potential buyers are purchasing a Caravaggio with a house thrown in.
No state intervention
Art lovers have long demanded the involvement of the Italian state which has the option to buy the property for the asking price once it has been passed up at action.
They argue the many artistic treasures inside the villa should be available to the public. So far, the state has not intervened to purchase the 11-room property.
Villa Aurora was originally built as a hunting lodge in 1570 and later sold to Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who hired Caravaggio in 1597 to decorate a small room on the first floor that was used for alchemy experiments.
The Ludovisi noble family purchased the property from Del Monte in 1621.
Other notable artworks include a statue of Pan, attributed to Michelangelo, which greets visitors of the villa on the gravel drive.
Another huge ceiling fresco by the Italian Baroque artist Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, dominates the entrance hall with its depiction of Aurora on her chariot.
There is also a staircase by Carlo Maderno, one of the architects of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Other works by Domenichino, Pomarancio and Viola adorn the site.
Princess Rita has said the family is realising that disagreements over the property is harming them all.
She says she is confident the arguments will be settled, possibly before the next auction, and that a new strategy for Villa Aurora will be found.
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