An Italian family kept a Botticelli masterpiece valued at 100 million euros in their home for 50 years.

Photo: Naples police

The other day a mysterious story worthy of a film adaptation in the style of “The Da Vinci Code” ended in Italy. Of course, it has all the ingredients for success: a masterpiece by Sandro Botticelli that disappeared without a trace, the Medici family and the family of the “secret keepers”.

When a few weeks ago, the respectable citizen Michele Somma approached Nello D’Auria, mayor of the city of Gragnano, located near Naples, and told him through tears that he knew where the painting of the Virgin and Child was, which was considered missing for half a century. a century, the official simply did not believe his words.

In fact, who would not consider it a fantasy that the Somma family, well known in the area, kept a world-famous painting valued at around 100 million euros in their home for 50 years? Their goal, according to a local resident, was to protect the master’s great creation from the hands of cultural property hunters.

Imagine the surprise of the administration and the Carabinieri unit for the protection of cultural heritage when on Tuesday, November 28, the original Virgin and Child was handed over to specialists. It is true that its condition left much to be desired: even with the naked eye you could see peeling of the paint layer, faded colors, abrasions, traces of unsuccessful touch-ups and cracks in the protective varnish.

“It will now pass into the care of the Institute of the Ministry of Culture, specialized in restoration of works of art, to begin the process of studying and evaluating the painting,” explained superintendent Mariano Nuzzo, who supervised the process. he told the media.

It is expected that the master’s creation, after restoration, will be exhibited in one of the museums of Stabia. In the future it is planned to locate it in a historical place: the chapel of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the municipality of Santa Maria la Carita.

Painted around 1490, the work “The Virgin and Child” belongs to the mature work of Sandro Botticelli. This painting has a unique historical significance. The woman represented is the artist’s muse, the girl he was in love with, but who died very young and inspired him to create dozens of works. It was he who gave it to Pope Sixtus IV when he painted the wall of the Sistine Chapel, and the Pontiff donated it to the Gragnanese community in exchange for funding from the Medici family.

The masterpiece was included in the cultural heritage catalogs in 1931 and its status was confirmed in 1941 and 1968. The painting was originally located in the said chapel, but traces of it were lost in the 1970s when it was sent for planned restoration . But it never made it to the specialized workshop, but ended up, as we now know, in the Somma family home.

It is true that the circumstances under which worthy citizens became “Botticelli guardians” remain vague, as do the reasons why the authorities “forgot” about the cultural heritage for 50 years.