Italy buys rare Caravaggio portrait for 30 million euros
Mar 10th 2026
The Italian state bought a rare Caravaggio portrait of Maffeo Barberini for 30 million euros and will add it to Rome's Palazzo Barberini collection.
- Italy paid 30 million euros, about $35 million, for the painting, one of the largest state purchases for a single artwork.
- The painting, Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, was painted around 1598 and was attributed to Caravaggio in 1963.
- The work depicts the future Pope Urban VIII in his 30s as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber.
- Art critic Roberto Longhi highlighted the painting in 1963 and called it a key moment in Caravaggio's modern rediscovery.
- The state acquired the work from a private collection after more than a year of negotiations and will place it in Palazzo Barberini's permanent collection