Sitting Vice Minister Suspected of Altering 17th-Century Painting... First Resignation in Italian Cabinet

Manetti Accused of Stealing and Altering 'The Capture of Saint Peter'
First Case of Resignation of Minister and Deputy Minister in Prime Minister Meloni's Cabinet

Vittorio Sgarbi, former famous art critic and Deputy Minister of Culture of Italy, resigned amid allegations of illegally acquiring and altering a 17th-century painting.

On the 2nd (local time), foreign media including the British BBC and AFP reported that Vittorio Sgarbi (71), Deputy Minister of Culture of Italy, announced his intention to resign "to avoid conflicts of interest." Sgarbi's resignation is the first case of a minister or deputy minister stepping down in the cabinet of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which took office in October 2022.

Rutilio Manetti's 'The Arrest of Saint Peter'
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Italian prosecutors are investigating Deputy Minister Sgarbi on charges of stealing and altering the painting "The Capture of Saint Peter" by Italian 17th-century painter Rutilio di Lorenzo Manetti (1571?1639), which was stolen in 2013 from Buriasco Castle in Piedmont, northwest Italy. At the time of the theft, the culprit removed the painting from its frame and fled. In 2021, eight years later, Sgarbi exhibited a nearly identical painting at an exhibition, sparking controversy. He presented the work as an unpublished piece he owned at an exhibition titled "Painters of Light: From Caravaggio to Paolini."

Deputy Minister Sgarbi claimed, "I was lucky to discover this painting while restoring a villa my mother purchased over 20 years ago in 2000." He also denied the allegations, asserting that the painting he exhibited was the original and that the one stolen in 2013 was a 19th-century replica. The painting he exhibited is almost identical to the missing work except for a candle painted in the upper left corner.

In response, last month, an investigative program by Italy's public broadcaster RAI raised suspicions that Sgarbi added the candle after stealing the painting to disguise it as a different work and conceal its origin. Furthermore, the Italian daily Il Quattro Quotidiano claimed that after examining the painting with high-resolution scanning technology, the torn parts on the painting exhibited by Sgarbi perfectly matched the fragments left on the frame of the stolen painting, and the canvas and pigment materials were also identical.

The original owner of the stolen painting said that a few weeks before the theft in 2013, someone who wanted to buy the painting visited the castle, and it turned out that person was a friend of Deputy Minister Sgarbi.

Deputy Minister Sgarbi recently appeared on a broadcast program and expressed indignation, saying, "I don't understand how I can be investigated for a theft I did not commit," and called it "a clear defamation." In addition, Sgarbi is also accused of illegally selling a painting by French painter Valentin de Boulogne (1591?1632) overseas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.