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Robert Capa show at Mussolini’s villa sparks controversy

Questions asked about how former home of fascist ruler came to host exhibition of Jewish photojournalist

Museum president in Italy resigns following backlash over Giorgia Meloni picture

The inverted photo of the Italian prime minister has drawn comparisons to images of Benito Mussolini's execution

Basilica Ulpia part-rebuilt on original colossal scale in Rome

But financing of the project by a now-sanctioned Russian oligarch has been condemned as an "embarrassment"

Italy donates replica of Bull of Nimrud destroyed by Isis to Iraq

The 3D-printed reproduction of the Assyrian statue was previously displayed at the Colosseum in Rome and the Unesco headquarters in Paris

Under the bonnet: €300,000 Ferrari-funded restoration completed on 13th-century Cimabue fresco

Maestà di Assisi, located in the saint's home town, which survived a deadly earthquake in 1997, has been returned to its original luminosity

Is Italy’s government meddling in who runs top museums?

Cultural figures voice concern about culture ministry’s appointments to run institutions including Florence’s Uffizi Galleries and Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera

Italy’s embattled junior culture minister resigns amid scandals

The critic, curator and commentator Vittorio Sgarbi was being pressured to resign amid multiple investigations into his conduct

Students denounce ‘voyeuristic’ depiction of rape in Gentileschi show

Exhibition in Genoa dedicated to 17th-century painter includes a multimedia installation detailing the artist’s infamous rape by artist Agostino Tasso

No confidence vote against Italian junior culture minister postponed

Vittorio Sgarbi is being investigated for allegedly laundering an Old Master painting

Italian politicians call on government to sack minister involved in art theft case

Vittorio Sgarbi has been accused of laundering a stolen 17th-century painting attributed to Rutilio Manetti

Private donations save Bologna’s Garisenda tower from collapse

City had been forced to cordon off leaning 12th-century structure

Could the arts be good for your health?

A major scientific research project led by the World Health Organisation and Jameel Arts & Health Lab aims to find out

Forgotten Botticelli painting recovered by Italian police

Last checked by the authorities in over 50 years ago, the painting had been kept in a private home since the 1980s and is in extremely poor condition

Mystery over Agnelli dynasty’s missing art

Investigation by Italy’s broadcaster about the whereabouts of art from the late industrialist’s collection has revealed apparent widespread failure to enforce country’s cultural export rules

Uffizi director Eike Schmidt hits out at mayor of Florence—fuelling rumours of his own political ambitions

Schmidt has criticised Dario Nardella for plans to deploy security guards at shopping centres in the city, after suggestions for similar protection at the museum were rejected

Michelangelo Pistoletto donates new version of public installation to Naples following arson attack

The original version of the artist's Venus of the Rags was set alight only two weeks after being installed outside the city's town hall

Egyptian Museum in Turin to undergo €23m renovation with two-storey ‘agora’ at its heart

The mission of the project, designed by OMA architects, is to make the museum more accessible to the public

Italy appoints right-wing journalist as Venice Biennale president

Members of Italy’s ruling coalition have described the 128-year-old exhibition as a "fiefdom" of the left

Banksynews

Damaged Banksy mural in Venice to be restored

But some critics are arguing that Migrant Child, which has been slowly deteriorating since it first appeared in 2019, should be left alone

Rain, storms, drought: a new project is saving Europe’s ancient heritage from climate change

EU project aims to find ways to arrest damage at numerous archaeological sites, from a 12th-century BC city in Greece eroded by rising sea levels to submerged prehistoric villages in a Swiss lake at risk from falling water levels

Will Italy's right-wing government control who gets to direct the nation’s biggest museums?

Art historians are concerned the culture ministry is lining up candidates to run top institutions including Florence’s Uffizi Galleries and Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera

Two German tourists arrested for allegedly defacing Vasari Corridor in Florence

The characters DKS1860—referring to the football team 1860 Munich—were spray-painted on seven outdoor columns under the famous Italian landmark

Niger coup upends country’s Venice Biennale plans

Niger, which is participating in the current architecture biennale, had planned to show at next year’s art biennale for the first time

A warehouse full of art: what will happen to Silvio Berlusconi’s collection?

Italy’s controversial former prime minister, who died in June, amassed tens of thousands of works—of varying quality

Police block auction of Gina Lollobrigida's art as rival heirs clash

Sale of Italian film star’s 350-piece collection halted over suspicions that her assistant pressured her to sell

Italy could slash VAT on imported works of art

Proposal follows EU directive to align import sales tax among member states, causing alarm in France which currently has the lowest rate

Looted artefacts linked to disgraced British dealer Robin Symes returned to Italy

Restitution follows the return of 350 Neolithic and Byzantine objects from the same source to Greece

Italy announces museum ticket price hike as part of €2bn flood aid package

Admission will be raised by €1 to support relief efforts in the affected Emilia-Romagna region

Italynews

Artists take aim at Italy’s attack on same-sex parents’ rights

As the country's far-right government cracks down on LGBTQ rights, public artworks are popping up in protest

James Imam. With additional reporting by Gareth Harris

Botticelli’s Venus as ‘influencer’ in tourism campaign faces widespread ridicule

The use of a computerised mascot of the Renaissance figure to promote Italian culture has been described as “humiliating” and “grotesque”