The princess and the Caravaggio: bitter dispute rages over Roman villa

s legend goes, tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain guarantees a return visit to Rome. When, as a 16-year-old American tourist, Rita Carpenter participated in the ritual and made a wish to one day marry a Roman and live in the Italian capital, little did she know that almost five decades on she would return to marry a prince and home would be a 16th-century villa stuffed with history, including the only ceiling mural ever painted by Caravaggio.

“We couldn’t reach an agreement so the judge ruled it had to be auctioned,” said the 73-year-old. “I really haven’t slept much at all.”The princess is sceptical a petition launched this week urging the Italian government to stump up the cash to buy the property will be successful. Since the site is protected by the ministry of culture, once a bid has been agreed at auction the state will have the chance to buy the property at the same price.

Until the prince’s death in 2018, the villa hosted students of history and small private tour groups. The couple were also behind various charity initiatives. The princess put together a digital archive of 150,000 documents that shed even more light on the history of the villa. She was a property broker in New York when she crossed paths with Nicolò. “He’d read an article about me in Crain’s Business, and then a mutual friend got in touch and said: ‘You must come to Rome, there’s this prince who wants to put a hotel on one of his properties outside the city.’” She was initially dismissive, but eventually flew to Rome and the pair instantly fell in love.

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