The Italian government is currently in hot water following an investigation launched against junior culture minister Vittorio Sgarbi over his ownership of a 17th-century painting by Italian painter Rutilio Manetti, that was allegedly looted from a castle in Buriasco, Turin last 2013.
BOLOGNA, ITALY - OCTOBER 24: Italian art historian Vittorio Sgarbi holds his speech "Food in Arts" durng the celebrations of the Mortadella Day at FICO Agri-Food Park on October 24, 2018 in Bologna, Italy.
How the Manetti Painting was Linked to Sgarbi
According to a report by Italy's public national broadcaster RAI, the Manetti piece, dubbed "The Capture of Saint Peter" or "La Cattura di San Pietro," was cut from its frames after thieves breached the castle grounds to steal it. Reportedly, the work is evaluated at over several hundred thousand euros.
Eight years after the theft incident, an almost identical painting appeared at a local Lucca exhibition with a showcase note saying that it had been sourced by the Villa Maidalchina, a farmstay estate belonging to Sgarbi.
RAI representatives then spoke to an art restorer who noted that the artwork exhibited in Lucca and the Manetti piece were nearly identical to each other, save for one detail: a candle is now depicted at the top left area of the piece.
However, to many Italian politicians, that one inconsistency was not enough to dissuade the notion that it is the same work, some even theorized that it may have been added after the theft was executed.
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Sgarbi Denies the Allegations
Just last week, the publication Il Fatto Quotidiano followed up RAI's sleuthing and launched an investigation itself, "confirming" that the piece that is currently in Sgarbi's possession was indeed the then-stolen Manetti painting.
This particular publication also reported that Sgarb is currently being likewise investigated by local authorities from Macerata, a city located around central Italy, which the junior culture minister promptly denied.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Sgarbi said: "I have not received any notice of investigation. Nor would I know how to be investigated for a theft that I did not commit. And for a crime committed 11 years ago, in circumstances not clarified by the investigators at the time."
He continued by saying that the Il Fatto report itself should be considered the "crime" in this context, as it violated the privacy of the investigation conducted surrounding the piece's theft.
In a separate report by the Corriere della Sera, Sgarbi responded to calls for his resignation that came from the party opposing Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, of which he is a member, saying he has no plans to resign.
He added that his detractors are "ignorant" for even claiming his "original" work was stolen.
