ROME - Two more priceless artworks were discovered in the private collection of the controversial politician, Vittorio Sgarbi, as reconstructed by Il Fatto Quotidiano.

 Sgarbi was forced to quit his job as Cultural Undersecretary after accusations of cultural theft this past January, now the politician is dealing with the law again. Authorities have confiscated two previously missing paintings that were in his collection.

 The first painting was discovered at Sgarbi’s showcase, entitled Ferrara and the Cinquecento at Palazzo dei Diamanti. The painting is one of 113 in the exhibition, but the altarpiece entitled Lamentation over the Dead Christ stood out. The piece, dating to the 17^th century, was mentioned within the pamphlet of the exhibition, but was nowhere to be found in the museum. Only a nail in the wall was found at the alleged location of the piece. The custodian told Il Fatto Quotidiano that, “That altarpiece would not fit in here, or so they told us.”

 Soon it was revealed that three days before the opening of the exhibition, on October 9, the piece was seized by carabinieri and brought to Rome. The Heritage Protection Unit confiscated it and added it to the other illegal works found within Sgarbi’s collection. The original owner of the work, Paganello Spetia, reflects on the painting that was stolen from their family palace in 1984, “Forty years have passed but I remember it well: the thieves cut the canvas and left the frame there. The Macerata Prosecutor’s Office seized it.” 

 A second case recently occurred in Rovereto, involving a terracotta sculpture by Raffaele Consortini titled Mother and Son. The sculpture was made in 1939 and reported missing in 1997. Over 20 years later, the painting has resurfaced at the Giotto and the Twentieth Centaury exhibition that was held from 5 December 2022 to 4 June 2023 at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto. It was brought to the exhibition from Sgarbi’s private collection. The original owner of the painting was in disbelief while looking at the recent photo of it, “It’s the same one, as ours, I have no doubts”, Florence Antonio Nannipieri says shocked, “my mother gave it to me for my son, who tragically died in 1987 in a car accident with his girlfriend. It was right here, on the altar of the family chapel…Now I find out from you that Sgarbi, a former undersecretary of state, has exhibited it as if it were his.”

lg