Italian politics

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

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

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

Artist Tania Bruguera urges Italian government to 'take a stance' after hundreds give fascist salute at Rome rally

The event reportedly took place to mark the 46th anniversary of the killing of three neo-fascists on Via Acca Larentia in southeast Rome

Italian museums undergo mass leadership reshuffle with Eike Schmidt out at the Uffizi

The Florence museum chief has been named director of Naples's Capodimonte with new leaders also appointed in Milan and Rome as part of right-wing government strategy

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

Can AI unlock the ancient Herculaneum scrolls?

Plus, the appointment of the new Venice Biennale president sparks a political row, and a tender portrait by Dorothea Lange

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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

First week of Italy's Pantheon price hike nets €200,000

Previously free, a standard tourist ticket to the ancient site now costs €5

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

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

Unpredictable art critic vs hard right minister: Italy’s senior politicians clash over cultural policy

Issues such as free museums and safeguarding heritage are splitting the opinions of two officials in the Brothers of Italy party which swept to power in September

In with the cuffs, out with the glue: Italian climate change protestors chain themselves to chapel banister

The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua is home to masterpieces by the Italian Medieval painter Giotto

Italynews

Mussolini family feuds over reopened crypt of fascist Italian dictator

The controversial site has become a pilgrimage for far-right supporters

Pressure mounts for Italy to buy Torlonia marbles—world's finest collection of Greco-Roman antiquities still in private hands

As a landmark exhibition in Rome draws to a close, government's plans for long-hidden group of ancient sculpture remain unclear

Venice comment

How to save Venice: a five-point plan by a leading citizen

Polls show that Venetians are about to re-elect a populist mayor who promises to bring back all the tourists—but none of the other eight candidates has presented a realistic alternative

Diaryblog

Artist creates black-faced portrait of Italian far-right politician Matteo Salvini

Current bid for re-imagined image of the controversial party leader stands at €45,000 in online auction

Steve Bannon’s nationalists can stay in medieval monastery (for now)

In the first round of a lengthy legal battle, an Italian court has ruled in favour of a right-wing Catholic organisation which the Ministry of Culture is trying to oust from a historic abbey

Artist defends anti-racism football campaign that uses images of monkeys

Italian football league—which commissioned the paintings made by Simone Fugazzotto—have now apologised saying they are "inappropriate"

Culture ministry failed to vet right-wing religious group close to Steve Bannon

Decision to lease Italian medieval monastery to an organisation affiliated with President Trump’s former chief strategist is blamed on staff shortages

Italian politician Matteo Salvini blasts sculpture showing him shooting refugees

Piece by Salvatore Scuotto instigates violence and should be removed, he says

The last of the great private Roman collections re-emerges

A 40-year struggle between Italy and the Torlonia family ends with major show in 2020

Italian court blocks loan of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man to Louvre

The ruling also suspends the wider agreement for the exchange of works of art between France and Italy

Venice comment

Don’t believe what you read in the papers: Venice won't lose its cruise ships any time soon

A lack of a long-term plan combined with the economic benefits brought by the luxury liners means a cruise ship ban will take long to implement