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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angela Giuffrida in Rome

Auction of Roman villa with Caravaggio mural fails to attract any bids

Caravaggio’s Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto mural was commissioned by Del Monte in 1597 to adorn the ceiling of his small alchemy laboratory.
Caravaggio’s Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto mural was commissioned by Del Monte in 1597 to adorn the ceiling of his small alchemy laboratory. Photograph: Victor Sokolowicz

The sale of a 16th-century villa in Rome containing the only ceiling mural ever painted by the Italian master Caravaggio has been rescheduled and the asking price reduced by 20% after an auction on Tuesday failed to attract any bids.

Villa Aurora was put on the market for €471m (£393m) amid a bitter inheritance dispute between the three sons of the villa’s last owner, the late Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, and his American-born wife, Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi.

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