Vatican – Mysterious Art Treasure – Wiener Zeitung Online

The art collection of a recently deceased priest in the Vatican has prompted authorities in Italy to take action. As the newspaper “Il Messaggero” reported on Monday, according to Kathpress, around 30 boxes with valuable works of art are stored in a secret place under the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. Among them are supposed to be fakes.

Michele Basso, former canon of St. Peter, is said to have collected around 70 pieces over the years, such as archaeological finds, marble and wooden statues, paintings on canvas, copper engravings and sketches on paper. There are paintings from the school of Mattia Preti, sketches by Pietro da Cortona, wood panels by Guercino, Golzius and Pasqualotto. According to the report, the fireproof boxes also contain wooden sculptures from the 17th century and a white marble sculpture. After the death of the priest, the Italian Ministry of Culture is now interested in the collection. It is not the first investigation in this context. The public prosecutor’s office in Rome began investigations in the early 2000s. But they stopped when the Italian priest donated his works to the Vatican.

According to the “Messaggero”, the main concern is the origin of the pieces, especially the archaeological finds. The reproduction of a famous Etruscan vase attracted particular attention. Officially, the original is said to have been found in 1971 at a place near Rome. However, the forgery in the priest’s inventory is dated to the beginning of the 20th century. Experts from the Ministry of Culture should now view the 70 works of art.