Italy's Culture Ministry says the government has bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros, one of the largest investments ever for a single artwork. The portrait, painted around 1598 and attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII. The painting was acquired from a private collection by the Italian state after over a year of negotiations, and will now enter Rome’s Palazzo Barberini permanent collection. The Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini depicts the future pope in his 30s, dressed as a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, at a crucial moment in his rise to power.
