{"id":340373,"date":"2026-03-11T10:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/340373\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:45:10","slug":"italy-buys-caravaggio-painting-for-30-million-euros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/340373\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy buys Caravaggio painting for 30 million euros"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Italy has bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros (\u00a325.9 million), one of the largest state investments ever for a single artwork, the country\u2019s Culture Ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>The portrait, painted in around 1598 and attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII.<\/p>\n<p>The painting was acquired from a private collection by the Italian state after more than a year of negotiations and will now enter Rome\u2019s Palazzo Barberini permanent collection.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"960\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/italy-buys-caravaggio-painting-for-30-million-euros.jpg\" alt=\"The oil-on-canvas painting Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini by Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (16th century) \" data-title=\"Italy Caravaggio Portrait\" data-copyright-holder=\"AP\" data-copyright-notice=\"\u00a9 Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Ministero della Cultura\" data-credit=\"Alessio Panunzi\/Alberto Novelli\" data-usage-terms=\"This content is intended for editorial use only. For other uses, additional clearances may be required. Handout \u2013 Government Produced\"\/>The oil-on-canvas painting Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini by Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Alessio Panunzi and Alberto Novelli\/Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Ministero della Cultura via AP, HO)\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a work of exceptional importance,\u201d culture minister Alessandro Giuli said in a statement, noting the painting was a turning point in Caravaggio\u2019s modern rediscovery and its purchase has helped strengthen the presence of his works in Italian public collections.<\/p>\n<p>The new acquisition follows a recent one of Antonello da Messina\u2019s Ecce Homo, and is part of Italy\u2019s broader project to strengthen the national cultural heritage, making some art history masterpieces accessible to scholars and the public.<\/p>\n<p>Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini depicts the future pope in his 30s, dressed as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, at a crucial moment in his rise to power.<\/p>\n<p>The work was made famous by art critic Roberto Longhi in his 1963 article The True \u2018Maffeo Barberini\u2019 Of Caravaggio, and has since been widely recognised by critics as a work by Caravaggio, also known as Michelangelo Merisi.<\/p>\n<p>Longhi called the painting \u201cone of the founding moments of modern portraiture\u201d, emphasising how Caravaggio ushered in a new psychological intensity.<\/p>\n<p>Caravaggio revolutionised painting at the turn of the 17th century by introducing a dramatic use of light that became the cornerstone of the Baroque style.<\/p>\n<p>He is currently one of the most studied artists in the world, yet the number of his confirmed works remains extremely limited.<\/p>\n<p>At Palazzo Barberini, the portrait will be displayed alongside Caravaggio\u2019s other works \u2013 one of the world\u2019s most important collections \u2013 in particular alongside another of Caravaggio\u2019s masterpieces, Judith Slaying Holofernes, also purchased by the Italian state in 1971.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Italy has bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros (\u00a325.9 million), one of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-340373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}