Custody dispute over Caravaggio painting

The Telegraph reports (4^th June 2015) that a dispute has arisen between two churches in Sicily over ownership of a Caravaggio, The Burial of Santa Lucia. The churches, both of which are dedicated to Santa Lucia, are located in the port town of Syracuse. While the painting has changed location on several occasions over the centuries, in 2006 custody was awarded to the Basilica of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in the Borgata district of Siracusa, whose custodians promised to guard it with security systems similar to those used by the Louvre to protect the Mona Lisa. However, these security systems were not put in place and in 2010 custody was transferred to the Church of Santa Lucia alla Badia, in the rival parish of Ortigia, where it is admired by thousands of tourists each day. Now the custodians of the church in Borgata have launched a campaign for the return of the painting, and their petition has been signed by around 2,000 people so far.

Critics say, however, that conditions in the church in Borgata make it unsuitable for a valuable painting, in part because the church is damp. The fate of the painting is being discussed by a range of different authorities, from the local diocese to the cultural heritage department of the region, and a final decision is expected next month.

Readers of this Blog will recall a recent post (8^th May 2015) relating to a similar dispute between two Spanish Museums over the right to display four paintings which had been held at the Prado Museum in Madrid after being sent there for safekeeping during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.