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A court in Rome confirmed that a villa of great value located in the heart of the Italian capital, and which includes the only ceiling mural in the world by Italian painter Caravaggio, will be offered for auction at a price starting from 471 million euros, equivalent to 547 million dollars, in January next year..
Villa Aurora is the only remaining part of the larger Villa Ludovisi, a 16th-century house considered “one of the wonders of the world”, while most of the infrastructure was demolished during the 19th century, according to art historian Claudio Strinati in a column Published in newspaper “Republica” daily.
Villa Aurora, located near the famous Via Veneto immortalized by the 1960 Italian film “La Dolce Vita” (The Sweet Life), is surrounded by a garden and various garages, covering a total of 2,800 square meters, according to general sales documents. Published by the Italian Ministry of Justice, according to the network cnn.
The ceiling mural is valued at more than 310 million euros, or 360 million dollars, according to Alessandro Zuccari, professor of modern art history at Sapienza University in Rome..
In his assessment, Zuccari, who was summoned by the court to value the artwork within the property, concluded that Caravaggio’s painting was “invaluable, being the only fresco by one of the greatest painters of the modern age.”“.
The 6-storey property houses countless artworks, including an oil fresco attributed to the Italian painter Michelangelo Merizzi da Caravaggio, nicknamed Caravaggio, whose works have become synonymous with the deep depiction of violence..
Caravaggio’s painting extends to the ceiling of a small room inside the villa, measuring 2.75 square meters, and depicts three deities from ancient Roman mythology, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, as they gather around a transparent globe..
Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte commissioned Caravaggio to paint the fresco on the ceiling of the room that the former used as his chemistry laboratory, according to the Italian Ministry of Justice published.
The villa was decorated by the Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as Jurcino, who worked on the villa between 1621 and 1623 AD..
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