For the second time in three months, historic villa in Rome with a unique ceiling fresco painted by the Renaissance artist Caravaggio, failed to attract a bidder.
More than four centuries after his death at the age of 38, the man who was known throughout his life for both quarrels, arrests and lawsuits and for creating the most famous works of art in history continues to cause problems.
Villa Aurora, a huge property of 2,800 square meters, is at the center of a fierce legal dispute between US-born Princess Rita Boncobani Ludovizi and the three sons of her late husband, Prince Niccolo Boncobani Ludoviz.
The property “came under the hammer” for the first time in January with a price of 471 million euros. After not attracting any bidders, the sale reopened on April 7 with a price of 377 million euros, with a 20% discount. But the result was the same.
The next round of the auction is scheduled for June 30 with a price of 301 million euros, an additional 20% reduction from the initial one. If no one bids at this price, then the princess and the prince’s three sons should agree to reduce it even further.
The villa is under the protection of the Italian Ministry of Culture, which means that once the final offer is submitted, the Italian state will have the opportunity to pay the amount and turn the villa into a cultural space. But experts say it is unlikely the Italian government will buy the villa, built in 1570 and owned by the Boncobani-Ludoviz family for more than 400 years.
In 2010 a box with letters of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI and some former prelates of the Roman Catholic Church was found in the villa.
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