Italy’s controversial next culture minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, continues to face intense scrutiny over a range of issues, including possible links to stolen paintings and an ongoing investigation by the country’s antitrust agency. Because of this, he resigned.
It was the latter investigation that Sgarbi was referring to when he announced his resignation at a press conference in Milan late Friday night. The investigation centered on money Sugarbi allegedly pocketed during public appearances at cultural events.
Last year, an Italian daily Il Fat Quotidiano reported that Sgarbi earned around 300,000 euros in nearly nine months making such appearances, prompting the antitrust agency to investigate. Sgarbi has previously defended himself, saying he was only paid for “what I’ve been doing all my life, what writers and lecturers do: talk about art.” But the antitrust agency said these fees are actually “incompatible activities with government agencies.”
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On Friday, in resigning his position, Mr. Sgarbi said, “Pursuant to antitrust notices, I am unable to discuss art to avoid a conflict of interest. Therefore, I would like to hereby announce my resignation as Under Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs.” Masu.”
Meanwhile, Sgarbi was under investigation last month for his alleged links to a painting by Rutilio Manetti that was stolen in 2013. Il Fat Quotidiano It claimed that a similar painting by Manetti that was exhibited in the Tuscan city of Lucca in 2021 was stolen. The items featured in Lucca’s show reportedly came from Villa Maidalcina, which is owned by Sgarbi.
Mr. Sgarbi then claimed that: Il Fat Quotidiano He lied in the report and said he had no knowledge of the investigation. He did not mention the Manetti painting debacle in his resignation Friday.
Nor did Sgarbi mention a series of other controversies that have followed him over the years, most notably one in 2023 over sexist comments in public. At the MAXXI Museum in Rome, Sgarbi said it was “tragic” that former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had slept with “less than 100 women in his lifetime”, and almost all museum employees condemned him. It was way.
Even before he became culture minister, Sgarbi already had a reputation for being controversial and provocative. He said he did not like Italian avant-garde movements such as Arte Povera, and grabbed international headlines when he tried and ultimately failed to hold an exhibition on excrement.
His resignation comes as, as of Friday, he was scheduled to face a no-confidence vote scheduled for February 15.
The no-confidence vote was initially expected to take place sooner, but the postponement has left some politicians saying that Mr. Sgarbi’s supporters are hopeful that the results of the antitrust investigation will exonerate him. he claimed. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in October: “We will wait to see how the antitrust laws respond before evaluating the case.”
In announcing his resignation, Mr. Sgarbi said he would immediately resign from his position and would formally announce his resignation within the next few hours through communication with Mr. Meloni.
However, he refused to apologize to his critics. “I don’t need to apologize to anyone,” Sgarbi said. “I expressed my condemnation like everyone else.”