Are you looking for a lavish home in Rome and have half a billion euros left over to spend? Look no further: Villa Aurora, a property and art gem in the Italian capital, is for sale.
The property, which stretches over 2,800 square meters including a lush garden, is home to the only known ceiling mural by Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio.
The villa is what is left of a country house established in the 16th century by Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte and later sold to its current owners, the noble Ludovisi family.
It goes on auction on January 18 with an opening bid of 471 million euros ($ 535 million).
The sale is the result of a long-running inheritance dispute following the death of former owner Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2018 and involves his third wife.
Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, who was born and raised in Texas but has lived in the villa for 18 years, told Reuters that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had once been interested in buying the property, as well as an emir from Qatar.
“I just pray and hope that whoever buys it will love it as much as we have,” she said as her voice broke with emotion.
In 1597, Cardinal Del Monte, a diplomat and art patron, Caravaggio, at the time in his early twenties, ordered the painting of the ceiling of a small room on the first floor, which he used as his alchemy laboratory.
The 2.75 meter wide mural was painted in oil directly on the plaster and depicts an allegorical scene with the gods Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto representing the transformation of lead into gold.
Caravaggio painted his own face and body on each of the three figures. The mural alone is valued at 310 million euros.
The villa owes its name to a fresco by another Baroque artist, Il Guercino, which adorns the huge ceiling in the entrance hall and depicts Aurora, the goddess of dawn riding on her chariot.
Protected by high walls, the villa is located near the famous Via Veneto, where Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” was recorded in 1960.
Villa Aurora is also filled with sculptures, antiques and statues, including a Renaissance master attributed to Pan Michelangelo. — Reuters
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