Italy

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

Pompeii prison bakery—discovered during recent excavations—opens to the public

Regio IX area, one of nine neighbourhoods, was made publicly accessible this week

Italian court sides with Getty Museum in export dispute over Bassano painting

The Council of State dismissed the Italian culture ministry’s belated attempt to repatriate “absolute masterpiece” from the Los Angeles museum

Private donations save Bologna’s Garisenda tower from collapse

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

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

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

The legacy banking foundation buying up works at Artissima for Turin’s major museums

Fondazione Arte CRT’s new chief wants to bring art to the masses via public art programmes

Art fairsanalysis

‘We can feel instability’: Italian dealers weigh up the market at Artissima in Turin

Sales were brisk at the VIP preview of the fair's 30th edition, but "jitters" can be felt against an uncertain geopolitical backdrop

Italycomment

How Italy’s Renaissance lives on today

Like their 15th-century counterparts, contemporary artists continue to enjoy the patronage of the church

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

Trespassing tourist wades into Rome's Trevi Fountain

The woman was caught on video filling up her water bottle in the late Baroque masterpiece

‘Do you want a clap?’: tour guide who filmed tourist defacing Colosseum reveals how he caught vandal

The unidentified Swiss teenager is the second person to make headlines this summer for carving letters into the walls of the ancient site

Dealer Massimo De Carlo to launch private foundation in northwestern Italy

The Italian gallerist's planned complex will be the first private hub dedicated to contemporary art in the province of Asti

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

Pompeii fresco may show pizza's 2,000-year-old ancestor, archaeologist says

The painting was found close to Naples, home of the famous margherita pizza

Italy condemns tourist who vandalised Colosseum with love note

Italian authorities have identified an English suspect who they believe is the man filmed carving the words “Ivan + Hayley 23” into the 2,000-year old structure

Silvio Berlusconi, politician and early proponent of 'culture war' rhetoric, has died, aged 86

The outspoken leader of three Italian governments between 1994 and 2011 was often publicly critical of contemporary art and architecture projects in Italy

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

Lootnews

‘Easily recognisable fakes’ among artefacts repatriated to Italy from the US

Forged objects have been identified among the 60 antiquities returned amid much fanfare earlier this year

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

Venice Architecture Biennale curator criticises Italian government for denying visas for three Ghanaian curators

Lesley Lokko, the curator of the 18th edition of the event, said the decision showed the “ugly rear” of Italian immigration policy but should not be "the defining story of this exhibition"

Museums close and turn into shelters amid deadly floods in northern Italy

At least 13 people have died and thousands have been evacuated as the Emilia-Romagna region battles its worst floods in 100 years

Romereview

Why Bridget Riley's bold ceiling painting at the British School at Rome is an exercise in 'soft power'

The 92-year-old artist's first-ever ceiling work takes inspiration from the "colour of the skies" and follows in the footsteps of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescos

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