Italy's culture minister pledges to buy more artworks, as latest purchase shown in Rome

ROME (AP) — Italy's Culture Ministry put a recently purchased devotional painting by early Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina on display in the Senate on Thursday — and the culture minister says such acquisitions would be stepped up.

The $14.9 million purchase from Sotheby's auction house in New York of the painting titled “Ecce Homo,” comes just weeks after the ministry paid a private collector 30 million euros (about $35 million) for a portrait by Caravaggio that was part of a blockbuster show in the capital last year.

“It is true that there is a policy to step up these acquisitions,'' Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli told The Associated Press in his office after the work was unveiled. "We want people to understand how important it is for us to bring works of great artistic and public significance back to Italy and make them available to the world as well as to Italians.”

Giuli flew to New York this week to complete the deal with Sotheby's for the double-sided devotional painting on a wooden panel measuring 20.3 cm (7.9 inches) by 14.9 (5.8 inches).

One side features the “Ecce Homo” painting of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head and a rope around his neck, depicting the moment Pontius Pilate hands Jesus over to the crowd for crucifixion. On the other side, is a painting of Saint Jerome the Penitent.

The artwork dating from around 1470 was carried by its owner in a leather bag for years and pulled out to be used in prayer. The face of Saint Jerome has been worn away by the owner’s repeated devotional kissing.

Giuli said that the Italian government became aware of the work as it was about to go on auction, and intervened.

“Our pockets are not deep, as the Culture Ministry budget is not even 0.3 percent of the national budget, but it is large enough to purchase works of art,'' Giuli said, adding that the acquisitions do not impact resources to other government activities, which have different funding lines.

The art work will initially be displayed in the National Museum of Abruzzo in L’Aquila before being moved to other locations in Italy with the goal of giving as many Italians as possible the chance to see it in person.

The acquisition comes two weeks after Italy bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio, one of the largest state investments ever for a single artwork. The painting depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII.