{"id":131500,"date":"2025-09-12T05:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/131500\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T05:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:12:09","slug":"italy-protests-return-of-carpaccio-altarpiece-to-slovenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/131500\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy Protests Return of Carpaccio Altarpiece to Slovenia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tA 16th-century altarpiece by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/t\/vittore-carpaccio\/\" id=\"auto-tag_vittore-carpaccio\" data-tag=\"vittore-carpaccio\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vittore Carpaccio<\/a> has been returned to the Slovenian town of Piran, where it was originally commissioned, drawing sharp criticism from Italian politicians who insist the work remains part of Italy\u2019s cultural patrimony.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMadonna and Child Enthroned with Six Saints\u00a0(1518) was painted for Piran\u2019s Church of St. Francis of Assisi, in Istria\u2014an Adriatic region that was once under Italian control but is now divided among Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. The painting was removed in 1940, when Istria lay entirely within Italy\u2019s borders, and placed for safekeeping in Padua during World War II. It has hung in the Basilica of Sant\u2019Antonio there for decades.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757653929_800_GettyImages-2234165020.jpg\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757653929_800_GettyImages-2234165020.jpg\" alt=\"This photograph taken on September 11, 2025 shows the painting &quot;Christ on the cross&quot; by Dutch painter Peter Paul Reubens, exhibited at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau, south of Paris. A long-lost painting by 17th-century Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens has been found in a Paris mansion, a French auctioneer said on September 10, 2025. &quot;It is a masterpiece,&quot; said Jean-Pierre Osenat, who had made the discovery, referring to the sketch of Jesus Christ on the cross painted in 1613. &quot;It was painted by Rubens at the height of his talent,&quot; he told AFP, adding that the artwork was in &quot;very good condition&quot;. Osenat, the head of the eponymous auction house, said he had found the painting in September 2024 while preparing to sell the private mansion in the French capital's chic 6th district. (Photo by Ian LANGSDON \/ AFP) (Photo by IAN LANGSDON\/AFP via Getty Images)\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"\" width=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tOn September 4, following pressure from Franciscan friars in Padua, the work was quietly transferred back to Piran, days before President Sergio Mattarella began a state visit to Slovenia. The Slovenian culture minister, Asta Vre\u010dko, hailed the return as \u201cthe fruit of long-standing efforts\u201d and said the painting would soon be viewable \u201cin its authentic setting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn Italy, however, the handover has been denounced as a capitulation. Roberto Menia, a senator for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/t\/giorgia-meloni\/\" id=\"auto-tag_giorgia-meloni\" data-tag=\"giorgia-meloni\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Giorgia Meloni<\/a>\u2019s Brothers of Italy party and descendant of Istrian exiles, said the work \u201cremains part of Italian heritage,\u201d stressing Carpaccio\u2019s Venetian roots. Anna Maria Cisint, an MEP for the League, warned in a letter to Mattarella that exiles felt \u201cpain and a sense of loss.\u201d Another Brothers of Italy deputy, Alessandro Urz\u00ec, called the transfer a \u201crestitution\u201d and \u201cfundamentally incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe debate touches a historical nerve. Around 350,000 Italians fled Istria and Dalmatia after World War II amid intimidation and reprisals under Tito\u2019s Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe painting will be reinstalled in Piran\u2019s St. Francis on December 27, after restoration work on the church\u2019s altar is complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 16th-century altarpiece by Vittore Carpaccio has been returned to the Slovenian town of Piran, where it was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,61918,1120,96,1347,10747,56,54,55,61919],"class_list":["post-131500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-cultural-heritage-disputes","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-giorgia-meloni","tag-renaissance-art","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-vittore-carpaccio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}