Silvio Berlusconi, the former cruise crooner who became three-time Italian prime minister, who died aged 86 in June, was known around the world for his diplomatic gaffes, his “bunga bunga” parties and his numerous embezzlement trials funds, extortion, tax evasion, money laundering, mafia collusion and child prostitution. According to some of his closest confidants, he was also an avid art collector who bought so many paintings, by artists such as Titian, Parmigianino and De Chirico, that he had to store them in a 3,200 m² warehouse. .
“He was very passionate; passionate about life and passionate about art. He loved to buy works that impressed him,” says Cesare Lampronti, a London-based art dealer often described as “Berlusconi’s gallery owner”. Berlusconi would buy works at auction or through TV sales for the sake of “escape” from the stresses of politics and business, adds Lampronti.
While Berlusconi was an “autonomous” and “instinctive” collector, he often sought advice from experts like Lampronti and Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic and former MP for Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia party, says Lampronti. His broad tastes span from the Renaissance period to the 20th century, with Berlusconi spending between thousands and millions of euros on individual works. He offered some to “friends and acquaintances” as gifts, says the gallery owner.
Berlusconi was passionate about art. He liked to buy works that had marked him
Cesare Lampronti, dealer
Many of Berlusconi’s most valuable works were displayed in the sumptuous 18th-century Villa San Martino in Arcore near Monza, the politician’s power base where he commissioned the Tuscan sculptor Pietro Cascella to build a quasi-futuristic marble mausoleum . Works stored in the villa included a copy of Parmigianino Antea (1524-27), a portrait of post-war actress Anna Fallarino by Milanese artist Pietro Annigoni and a work by unknown author that resembles the Mona Lisa with her breasts exposed, Sgarbi, now under- secretary of the Ministry of Culture, told the Adcronos news agency in 2020.
Sgarbi added that one of the most valuable works in the villa was that of Titian Portrait of Cardinal Hippolyte de’ Medici (1533). Worth 4 to 5 million euros, the painting was previously exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Lampronti confirms that the work was part of the Berlusconi collection.
Berlusconi kept many other paintings in a warehouse near Arcore which he bought in 2020, said a spokesman for Immobiliare Idra, the company that manages Berlusconi’s properties. Many of the works stored there were once on display in Villa Gernetto, another Berlusconi residence near Arcore, the spokesperson adds. The warehouse contained 24,000 works at the time of Berlusconi’s death, Sgarbi told the Askanews website in June.
“A Sea of Cheaper Works”
The politician had bought “a sea of cheaper works” in the last two years of his life, although the size of his collection was exaggerated, claims Lamprotti. The Immobiliare Idra spokesperson suggests that many of the works stored had limited value. “We’re not talking about Canaletto paintings,” she says.
At one point Berlusconi planned to open a private museum within the grounds of his residence, Villa San Martino, but the project did not take off.
Dino Fracchia/Alamy Stock Photo
During his lifetime, Berlusconi planned to display some of his finest acquisitions, including those of Lucio Fontana and Giorgio de Chirico, in a specially constructed gallery on the grounds of his San Martino residence, according to Rosalba Colombo, the mayor of left of Arcore. from 2011 to 2021. Berlusconi met with Colombo to present plans drawn up by surveyor Francesco Magnano for a “semi-circular” private gallery that would have been open to visitors on certain days. He dropped the project a year later due to bureaucratic hurdles, Colombo says.
Sgarbi renewed his calls for the creation of the museum after Berlusconi’s death. “I would introduce a €25 entrance fee,” he told heritage news site AgCult. However, Berlusconi’s family, rather than the culture ministry, would ultimately decide the project’s fate, Sgarbi said. While details of Berlusconi’s will had not been released before we went to press, commentators are predicting Marta Fascina, Berlusconi’s latest partner, is set to take over the villa.
