> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Italian Culture Minister Accused of Owning Stolen Painting
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/italian-culture-minister-accused-of-owning-stolen-painting/
- Published: 2024-01-16T23:06:33.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:20:30.000Z
- Description: The 17th-century work was allegedly cut from its frame in an art heist.
- Author: Elaine Velie
- Tags: News, Art Crime, Italy, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:29 (2023, 2024, part 1)

Italian authorities are investigating junior culture minister and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, accused of owning and displaying a 17th-century painting that was allegedly cut from its frame in a heist over a decade ago. The 71-year-old government official, who also serves as president of the board of the [Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto](https://www.mart.tn.it/?gclid=CjwKCAiA75itBhA6EiwAkho9&ref=hyperallergic.com), insists that his work is the real deal — and that the stolen work was a fake.

Rutilio di Lorenzo Manetti's "The Capture of Saint Peter" is [estimated](https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-junior-culture-minister-sgarbi-investigated-scandal-stealing-17th-century-painting-meloni/?ref=hyperallergic.com) to be worth around €200,000–300,000 (\~$217,541–326,303). It used to hang at the historic Buriasco castle near Turin and was reported missing in 2013\. The property owner [alleges](https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-01-11/vittorio-sgarbi-italian-undersecretary-for-culture-critic-and-art-thief.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) that thieves placed a photograph of the work in place of the original, which is [over six and a half feet wide](https://torino.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/24%5Fgennaio%5F12/la-cattura-di-san-pietro-cosa-raffigura-il-quadro-attribuito-a-rutilio-manetti-sequestrato-a-vittorio-sgarbi-aac33f72-b839-4dae-bed9-6caab5d3fxlk.shtml?ref=hyperallergic.com). The Italian television news program *Report*, which broke the story, [claimed](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/10/italian-minister-vittorio-sgarbi-accused-possessing-stolen-painting?ref=hyperallergic.com) that a friend of Sgarbi had visited the castle a few weeks before the theft and inquired about buying the painting.

Eight years later, in 2021, Sgarbi included a nearly identical artwork in a historical exhibition he curated in the small city of Lucca. This work included a candle painted in the corner, a detail the minister has [invoked](https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/in-edicola/articoli/2023/12/15/miracolo-di-sgarbi-in-mostra-la-tela-rubata-e-ritoccata/7383997/?ref=hyperallergic.com) as proof of his innocence, [claiming](https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2024/01/15/sgarbi-e-il-quadro-rubato-lavvocato-chiede-il-dissequestro-alla-camera-le-opposizioni-chiedono-di-nuovo-la-revoca-delle-deleghe/7411444/?ref=hyperallergic.com) that his version of the work came from his mother's home and that the painting stolen from the castle was a fake.

On Friday, January 12, the cultural official [posted on X](https://twitter.com/VittorioSgarbi/status/1745870435407860097?ref=hyperallergic.com) that he had handed over "The Capture of Saint Peter" to authorities.

“My painting is the original, the other is a badly made copy," Sgarbi told [*Corriere della Sera*](https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/politica/23%5Fdicembre%5F17/sgarbi-contro-report-per-il-quadro-seicentesco-mi-accusano-di-furto-manco-fossi-diabolik-e242049c-1605-466b-9361-d5abb1ee8xlk.shtml?ref=hyperallergic.com).

Meanwhile, Sgarbi is also being [investigated](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67983840?ref=hyperallergic.com) for allegedly illegally exporting a €5 million ($5,439,250) painting that was recovered in Montecarlo. (This time, he insisted, his version is the copy.) The culture minister, a center-right political figure, is now facing calls to resign, which he has [refused](https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/01/16/italian-junior-culture-minister-rejects-accusations-that-he-laundered-stolen-art?ref=hyperallergic.com).