A great artwork from the fifteenth century by Sandro Botticelli, thought to have been lost since the 1980s, has been discovered in a southern Italian residence.
According to the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Naples, a depiction of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ was found in a house in the town of Gragnano, which is close to Naples.
According to Italian officials, the painting by the most famous artist of “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” is considered to be valued at least €100 million ($109 million). In 1470, it was ordered for the Roman Catholic Church.
The tempera-painted, 23-by-31-inch (58 x 80 cm) piece was initially given to a church that burned down. It has been hanging in a church in the Santa Maria la Carità neighbourhood of Naples since the early 1900s.
A spokesman for the Italian ministry of culture told CNN that there is an official decree on file that entrusts the painting to the Somma family, who are not under criminal investigation. This information came about after an earthquake in 1982 damaged the church and the parish gave the painting to them for safekeeping.
Local officials monitored the painting’s condition for the first several years after the family was given it; they gave them advice on where to keep it and assisted with cleaning and moving it.
However, for unknown reasons, the checks ceased in the 1990s, and the painting was included to the ministry of culture’s list of missing works.
Commander Massimiliano Croce said during the unveiling of the discovery that the picture was tracked back to the Somma family this summer, who had hung it in various homes over the years. The list is regularly updated.
The police worked with the local mayor, who was previously aware of the Botticelli’s presence at the Somma home and assisted in mediating its retrieval, after locating the branch of the family that currently owned the artwork, according to Croce.
“This is a work totally unknown to the public which will now be exhibited again thanks to the intervention of the State. We acted in an administrative manner, without resorting to the Prosecutor’s Office or a seizure, thanks also to the mediation of the mayor,” Croce said.
“The family continues to hold the title of the work, which, however, will be preserved in a museum,” Croce added.
According to the culture ministry, the artwork, which will require major restoration, depicts the Virgin Mary with a chubby infant Jesus on her lap and blonde hair hidden by a veil. The painting is reminiscent of other representations by Botticelli.
It has been scratched and has some paint missing; they were most likely caused by the 1980s earthquake and subsequent house moves.
“The last time the authorities had inspected the private residence where the Botticelli painting was kept was over 50 years ago,” Croce said. “Since then, inexplicably, the painting had been forgotten by the authorities.”
It is believed to be among the artist’s last works before his death in 1510.
The government claims that restoration will take at least a year, but in the interim, the artwork will be on display in one of Naples’ major museums.
CNN
