In a Roman villa at the center of a nasty inheritance dispute, a Caravaggio masterpiece is hidden from the public

Villa Aurora in Rome, which houses works by Caravaggio and Guercino, is up for sale. Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images

I teach Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, so when I was visiting Rome in January 2023, how could I not try to see a notorious villa that was up for sale and involved in a nasty inheritance dispute?

The Villa Aurora, named for the masterful fresco by the 17th-century artist Guercino that adorns the ground-floor salon, also happens to house a rare ceiling painting by Caravaggio, the 17th-century “rebel artist,” whose name makes the art market salivate.