Italy buys rare Caravaggio portrait for €30 million and keeps it public

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published March 10, 2026

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Italy bought a rare Caravaggio painting on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, for €30 million, in a move designed to keep the work in public hands rather than let it remain in the private market. The painting, a portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, who later became Pope Urban VIII, is set to join the permanent collection of Rome’s Palazzo Barberini.

The acquisition carries unusual cultural weight because the work had remained in a private Florentine collection after being attributed to Caravaggio in 1963 and only recently became accessible to the public. According to Italy’s Culture Ministry, the painting had been on display at Palazzo Barberini since November 2024 during negotiations and remained there through the close of the CARAVAGGIO 2025 exhibition, which attracted more than 450,000 visitors, before its transfer to public ownership was finalized.