• Italy has purchased a rare Caravaggio portrait for €30 million.
• The painting depicts Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII.
• This acquisition is part of a broader effort to strengthen Italy's cultural heritage.
• The work will enter the permanent collection of Palazzo Barberini in Rome.
• The portrait is one of only three known Caravaggio portraits in existence.

Italy has finalized the purchase of a rare portrait by the baroque master Caravaggio for **€30 million** ($32.7 million), marking one of the largest amounts ever spent by the state on an artwork, according to Reuters.

The painting features **Monsignor Maffeo Barberini**, who later became Pope Urban VIII, and was painted around **1598**. This acquisition is seen as part of a national initiative to preserve Italy's cultural treasures, preventing significant artworks from disappearing into private collections, according to Bangkok Post and BBC.

The portrait was first exhibited to the public at the **Palazzo Barberini** in Rome in **2024**, where it will now permanently reside. Culture Minister **Alessandro Giuli** highlighted the importance of this acquisition, stating it adds to the Ministry's broader efforts to reinforce national cultural heritage, according to Reuters and BBC.

Barberini, who was known for being a key patron of the arts during his papacy, is depicted in the painting gesturing with his right hand, holding a letter in his left. The painting is one of only **three portraits** securely attributed to Caravaggio, of which about **65** of his works exist worldwide, according to Bangkok Post and BBC.