The Undersecretary of Culture Vittorio Sgarbi is under investigation in Macerata for self-laundering of works of art. For this reason, the Carabinieri of the heritage protection unit searched three homes of the well-known art critic, and subjected the painting attributed to Rutilio Manetti, “The Capture of Saint Peter”, to evidentiary seizure.
The 17th century work was apparently stolen from a castle in Piedmont in 2013, entrusted to a restorer to repair the damage and modify it to make it unrecognizable. Finally exhibited in 2021 at an exhibition as an object owned by the art critic, who claims to have found it in a comparative villa in the Viterbo area years earlier. The seizure is a necessary act to carry out all the checks on the painting. The canvas has an estimated value of several hundred thousand euros. The police also took computer devices and documents.
Sgarbi denies all accusations and said that he spontaneously handed over the painting: “I spontaneously handed over the work so that all the necessary checks could be carried out, starting from the measurements of the painting compared to the frame of the stolen one. I am absolutely at peace. The seizure is a necessary act. I have nothing to fear. I will defend myself by all means against those who speculate on the matter and those who become complicit in it.”
The well-known personality, often a guest on television talk shows, after receiving the notice of investigation, defended himself with a photo on Facebook in which he showed himself sitting on a chair in a museum, barefoot with a pair of shoes next to him: “They want to make me the shoes? Here they are!”. “The original painting is mine, the other was a poorly made copy. I found the real Manetti in the villa in Viterbo that I was restoring and which belonged to the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent The painting in Sgarbi's possession features a fountain, which according to the prosecution was drawn by an unidentified forger on the canvas believed to be original by the investigators.
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