ITALY’S government is under pressure to block the sale of a 16th century Roman villa that comes complete with a Caravaggio.
The Casino dell’Aurora is scheduled to be auctioned on Jan. 18, with its value estimated about 471 million euros ($533 million).
It’s a hefty price-tag even for a 2,800 square meter (30,000 square feet) villa on a 6,000 square meter lot close to the Via Veneto, and reflects a unique feature: the only known ceiling mural by the Italian master, estimated to be worth at least 300 million euros alone.
Italian politicians, academics and regular citizens have appealed to Prime Minister Mario Draghi to scrap the auction. An online petition urging the government to use European funds to protect “what belongs to Italy” reached more than 32,000 signatures within days.
Under Italian law, the government has a 60-day window to exercise its right of first refusal after a
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