The Italian State has acquired Caravaggio's "Ritratto di Monsignor Maffeo Barberini" for €30 million, concluding a negotiation that lasted over a year. The painting, executed around 1600, will be on free public display from May 28 to June 21, 2026, in the Sala Capitolare of the Biblioteca del Senato in Rome, before its permanent transfer to the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica at Palazzo Barberini. The exhibition also features a selection of documents from the Archivio di Stato di Roma, including judicial records that shed light on Caravaggio's legal troubles.
The acquisition, spearheaded by Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, represents one of the largest single investments ever made by the Italian State for an artwork—nearly double the cost of Antonello da Messina's "Ecce Homo." The painting, recognized by art historian Roberto Longhi in 1963 as a foundational work of modern portraiture, is one of very few certain Caravaggio portraits. The exhibition is framed as a homecoming for the artist, who lived in the same palazzi that now house the Senate, and underscores the government's ambitious strategy to strengthen Italy's national art collections.