After a year in negotiations, the Italian Ministry of Culture has reportedly paid $35 million (€30 million ) for a rare Caravaggio portrait. This is one of the highest sums ever spent on an artwork.
Italy Acquires Rare Caravaggio Painting
The painting, Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, depicts a young Maffeo Barberini, who would have become Pope Urban VIII in 1623. Baberini, a keen patron of the arts, was introduced to Caravaggio by his friend and fellow clergyman, Francesco Maria del Monte, who was housing the struggling artist at the time.
The portrait entered the catalogue of Caravaggio works in the 1960s after Italian art historian Roberto Longhi published an article on the painting, calling it “the first modern portrait”.
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Despite its official status, it still remained hidden for decades in a private collection in Florence. This was the case until 2024, when Italy’s National Galleries of Ancient Art obtained a short-term loan for the painting ahead of an upcoming Caravaggio exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome.
One of only three firmly attributed to Caravaggio, the late 16th-century portrait has now been secured and will permanently enter the Barberini’s collection. It will be displayed alongside the museum’s other works by Caravaggio, including Narcissus (1597–99) and Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598–99), which the Italian state purchased in 1971.
Officials hope that the purchase will strengthen national heritage by keeping major artworks by Italian artists inside the country and available to the public.
“This acquisition is part of a broader project to strengthen the national heritage with the aim of making art history masterpieces accessible that would otherwise be destined for the private market,” Alessandro Guili, the minister of culture, said in a statement.
“We have the most important collection of Caravaggio and Caravaggesque paintings in the world,” director of the museum, Thomas Clement Salomon, stated. “The portrait is extremely important for the Galleria Nazionale, even more so for the venue of Palazzo Barberini.”
