The “Aurora Casino”: An (Endless) Tragic Story

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Last April marked the closure of the sixth unsuccessful auction for the sale of the Aurora Casino, with a starting bid of 377 million euros. The building, which houses “Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto,” the only fresco attributed to Caravaggio, is at the center of a legal battle between the heirs of the first marriage and the third wife of the late Prince Niccolò Boncompagni Ludovisi.

The History

Villa Ludovisi, of which the Aurora Casino (or Del Monte) is a part, was built in 1621 at the request of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi after the acquisition of the old Orsini Palace and the surrounding lands (totaling more than 30 hectares). After restoration by Domenichino and André le Nôtre (previously the architect of Versailles), Ludovisi adorned the villa with artworks, including over 450 sculptures and flourishing gardens, attracting the likes of Goethe and Schiller. After Ludovisi’s death, Villa Ludovisi changed hands multiple times and was largely abandoned until the heirs of the Boncompagni-Ludovisi family decided to divide the land in the late 1800s. All the original buildings of Villa Ludovisi were destroyed, except for the Aurora Casino and part of Palazzo Grande (now the seat of the United States Embassy in Italy).

The Frescoes

The Casino owes its name to the fresco depicting the goddess Aurora, created in 1621 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (known as Guercino). The ground floor’s vault is occupied by the goddess seated on a chariot, accompanied by the Horae and her husband Triton, announcing the new day. However, the Aurora fresco is not the building’s highlight, as it also houses – along with other frescoes by Domenichino and Paul Bril – the only wall painting attributed to Caravaggio. The fresco “Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto” was created by the artist between 1597 and 1600, and commissioned by Cardinal del Monte. The theme is not random: the cardinal was an enthusiastic alchemist, and the painting is located in his “alchemy chamber,” in one of Villa Ludovisi’s rooms. Rediscovered in 1969 by art historian Giuliana Zandri, the oil painting depicts Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto around a luminous and transparent sphere, with the zodiac signs rotating. The three deities are said to represent the transmutation of matter into its three states: solid, liquid, and gaseous, from which the philosopher’s stone is generated (interpreted in the painting as the entire universe).

The Legal Dispute

In 2018, following the death of Niccolò Boncompagni Ludovisi (the last heir of the dynasty), a dispute arose between the children from the first marriage and the third wife, Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, over the division of the prince’s inheritance. To resolve the family controversy, in January 2022, the Aurora Casino was put up for auction for the first time, listed by Alessandro Zuccari for the astronomical sum of 471 million euros. Between 2022 and 2023, the property went to auction six times – on the dedicated Fallco Aste platform, directly connected to the Ministry of Justice’s public sales portal – eventually reaching the “reduced” price of 377 million euros. Despite all attempts, no buyer seems interested in acquiring the building at this price, and the sole tenant, Rita Jenrette, was evicted last April by a court decision. The idea, as repeatedly stated by Undersecretary for Culture Lucia Bergonzoni, is for the state to intervene in the purchase by exercising the right of first refusal if a private buyer places an offer at the next auctions. However, given the significant cost of the property, the timing is premature, but we await further developments to learn the fate of the Aurora Casino.

Cover photo credit: Google Arts & Culture