One of the world's most expensive homes is still on the market after the first auction of the Roman property failed to attract any bids. Villa Aurora boasts the world's only ceiling painting by Caravaggio and was initially listed for $532 million.
Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi lived there for two decades with her late husband Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi.
"The house will always be in my heart, every room has a special memory for me. This ceiling was featured in the Grand Palais in Paris and the Prado Museum in Madrid."
Another treasure of the 32-thousand square metre Roman estate is a Michelangelo statue of mythical character Pan. However, the property’s centrepiece is Caravaggio’s only ceiling mural, which dates back to 1597.
"Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto represent the elements that cardinal Francesco del Monte used in his alchemy work, and Caravaggio put his face and body on each one. In the entrance there is a painting from Zuccari, the leading mannerist painter and to go from that to the Baroque painting 25 years later with its confronting physicality is amazing," recounts the Princess.
The rare Caravaggio fresco is worth millions of dollars alone./Hermione Kitson/CGTN
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The 72-year-old, born in Texas, met Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2003 and they married six years later. She says their project to restore the 16th century home was a labour of love.
"We sacrificed everything for the villa. We restored the exterior, put a new roof on and I digitised 150,000 documents dating back 1,000 years that had never been seen before."
After the prince passed away in 2018, an inheritance dispute ensued between the princess and her late husband's three sons from his first marriage.
An Italian court ruled that it should go to auction, but the price was the big question.
Alessandro Zuccari is a Professor of Art History at Sapienza University Rome and helped to evaluate the property.
"It was not a simple task because there were no parameters of comparison," he said.
"The Caravaggio was valued at $350 million, considering the cost of insuring a piece of art like that for an exhibition would be around $230 million."
It’s one of less than 90 Caravaggio paintings known to still exist and was only discovered to be the Italian's work in 1968.
Amid rumours of international billionaires contemplating the purchase, there's a growing petition calling on the Italian government to intervene and buy the property and make it available to the public.
"Many hope that the state can acquire the property because it is the best way to secure its preservation and access, but it is also true that Italy can't financially commit to every one of its many cultural heritage sites," notes Zuccari .
April 7 has been set as the second auction date and the price will be reduced by 20 percent.
The princess says she only hopes that her late husband's legacy will live on with the next owner.
"I hope it is someone who has a real sensitivity about art and history and gives it the love and care that we gave it for 20 years."