The real estate auction of history has arrived. At 15 pm on 18 January 2022 it will be put on online sale the monumental Casino dell'Aurora, one of the most beautiful historic houses in the capital, the only monument left standing after the destruction of Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi in 1885 and which contains the only fresco ever made by Caravaggio, in addition to works by Guercino. Enough to justify the starting value of the auction: 471 million euros. The list of participants is still secret but has reached over 20 email addresses linked to the most influential men and women on the planet. They will probably be among the names Bill Gates and Sultan of Brunei since they had already tried to buy the villa in the past, even if in vain.
Overlooking one of the most beautiful areas of Rome, between via Veneto and villa dei Medici, the fame of the Casino, in addition to the oil painting by Caravaggio depicting Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto from 1597 at the center of a globe, is also due to the famous Aurora by Guercino (from which it takes its name) painted in 1613-1614 in the large hall on the main floor. In the 2.800 square meters, six floors and a sumptuous garden there are also two friezes by Antonio Tempesta with the Triumphs of Fame and Love, four panels with the Seasons by Paul Bril and winged cherubs by Cherubino Alberti, numerous sculptures from the classical era ( female herms, sarcophagi, busts, Diana and Venus).
Offers from all over the world are arriving for the tender. The billionaires will have 24 hours to make their proposal. The auction will of course without charm (given that the one with charm was eliminated with the law 132 of 2015) and with methods asynchronous telematics (a timed auction). The base price will be 471 million euros, the minimum offer of 353.250.000 with raises of one million. The approximately 11 million euros that will be needed by the future buyer to restore the historic villa have been deducted from the auction value.
Only those who have deposited 10% of the auction base will be admitted. However, the idea that the palace of one of the most powerful Italian aristocratic families ends up in foreign hands has sparked many protests in the world of Italian culture, calling for direct state intervention. But for the state to reach those figures is unthinkable. Caravaggio's work alone, the only mural painting by one of the greatest artists of the modern age, cannot be worth less than 310 million euros according to Professor Zuccari who supervised the appraisal of the works inside the villa.
As required by law, after the award, the Italian state will have right of first refusal because the asset is recognized by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage of national value (as has already happened for Palazzo Chigi and Palazzo Barberini), and can be purchased at offer price highest. Only in the event that the auction fails or does not reach the minimum value – a hypothesis that is also possible – will subsequent sales be fixed with a value reduced by 20%. A value that is always too high compared to the possibilities of the Ministry.
But how is it possible that such a masterpiece ended up at auction? The villa remained in the hands of the Ludovisi family from 1600 until the death of the last owner, the Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi on March 8, 2018. From that moment the inheritance dispute started between the third wife of the prince, the Texan Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi (painter who posed for Playboy), and the children of his first marriage with Benedetta Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, to whom Nicolò himself had left part of the property as a dowry.
All attempts at mediation having failed and after the foreclosure of a portion of the property that none of the heirs was able to repay financially, the court of Rome decided to put the property up for auction to settle the dispute. The proceeds of the sale will be divided in half between the princess and her late husband's three children.
