Italy's Culture Ministry has announced a landmark acquisition, purchasing a rare Caravaggio portrait for €30 million (£25.9 million). The purchase marks one of the state's most significant investments in a single artwork.
The painting, dating from around 1598 and attributed to the baroque master in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, who later became Pope Urban VIII. Following over a year of negotiations, the artwork was secured from a private collection and will now join the permanent collection at Rome's Palazzo Barberini.
Culture minister Alessandro Giuli said in a statement: “This is a work of exceptional importance.” He noted that the painting was a turning point in Caravaggio's modern rediscovery and that its purchase had helped strengthen the presence of his works in Italian public collections. The acquisition follows a recent one of Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, part of Italy's broader project to strengthen national cultural heritage.
The portrait shows Maffeo Barberini in his 30s, dressed as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, at a crucial moment in his rise to power. It was made famous by art critic Roberto Longhi in his 1963 article The True 'Maffeo Barberini' Of Caravaggio, and has since been widely recognised as a work by Caravaggio. Longhi called the painting “one of the founding moments of modern portraiture”, emphasising Caravaggio's new psychological intensity.
At Palazzo Barberini, the portrait will be displayed alongside other Caravaggio works, including Judith Slaying Holofernes, which was also purchased by the Italian state in 1971. Caravaggio revolutionised painting at the turn of the 17th century with his dramatic use of light, a hallmark of the Baroque style, and his confirmed works remain extremely limited.
