Vatican arrests former employee for selling missing Bernini manuscript
Kyiv • UNN
The Vatican has arrested a former employee for trying to sell Bernini's 17th-century manuscript, which disappeared from the Vatican archives.
Vatican police have arrested a former employee for allegedly trying to sell a 17th-century manuscript by Italian Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini that had previously disappeared from the archives, a Vatican spokesman said. This is reported by Reuters, reports UNN.
Details
Experts say the 18-page document with gilded miniatures contains the first details of the decorative elements of the canopy of St. Peter's basilica, designed by sculptor and architect Bernini.
Bernini is considered a leading master of 17th-century Italian Baroque architecture, and among his masterpieces is the colonnade surrounding St. Peter's square.
The suspect, who was arrested on May 27 on charges of attempted extortion, worked for Fabric of St. Petersburg. Peter, the institution responsible for the preservation and maintenance of St. Peter's Basilica.
He remains in Vatican custody and has been questioned twice in recent days, the spokesman added. Next week, the Vatican prosecutor's office will decide whether he will be formally charged.
addition
The prosecutor's office launched an investigation after the complaint and arrested the man when he returned the manuscript to the Vatican, offering 120,000 euros for it.
This was first reported by the Italian daily Domani, which identified the suspect as the former head of fabric's communications department and said he allegedly tried to sell the manuscript to Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Bishop of St. Peter's Basilica.
Domi said the missing manuscript had been returned to the Vatican.
