A Texas-born princess was evicted from the Roman villa with Caravaggio's only mural after six auctions drew no bids

The Casino dell'Aurora is the last surviving building of Rome's Villa Ludovisi. Its ceiling holds Caravaggio's only known mural, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, and Guercino's Aurora. Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, born 1941, married Rita Carpenter of San Antonio, Texas, on 27 May 2009. She had been married to Congressman John Jenrette, convicted in the Abscam bribery case in 1980, and met the prince in 2003 while working as a property broker. After he died in 2018, she and his three sons from his first marriage fought over the estate. In 2021 the Rome court ordered the villa seized and sold. A court expert valued it at 471 million euros. The first auction, on 18 January 2022, drew no bids. The fifth, on 12 January 2023, started at 145 million euros and also drew none. Critic Vittorio Sgarbi put its market value at 30 to 40 million. A judge found the house was not maintained after a wall collapsed and that Rita ran unauthorised tours, which she denied. On 20 April 2023, under an order from judge Miriam Iappelli, carabinieri evicted her. She had lived there about 20 years. A sixth auction failed. In July 2023 the heirs settled and agreed to sell privately through a mediator, outside the court. In 2026 no completed sale has been reported in the sources checked^†. The building needs an estimated 10 million euros of restoration.