Banca Popolare di Vicenza to Sell Its Art Collection

On January 21, 2022, the liquidators of Banca Popolare di Vicenza announced the sale of the bank's extraordinary art collection. The bank was placed under compulsory administrative liquidation in June 2017 after financial collapse. Non-binding offers for the lots can be submitted until February 28, 2022, subject to pre-emption rights by competent authorities. The collection includes masterpieces housed in the bank's historic buildings: Palazzo Thiene in Vicenza, Palazzo Alberti in Prato, and Palazzo Soranzo in Novello Castelfranco. At Palazzo Alberti, 121 paintings include Caravaggio's "La Coronazione di spine" (early 1600s, though some scholars dispute its attribution), Giovanni Bellini's "La Crocifissione in un cimitero ebraico," and Filippo Lippi's "Madonna con Bambino." Palazzo Thiene holds works by Venetian masters like Tiepolo, sculptures by Arturo Martini, and the world's largest collection of Venetian Oselle coins. The works are subject to a pertinenziale constraint imposed by the Soprintendenze, meaning they cannot be physically moved from their current locations and must remain as a single collection. The liquidators have appealed this constraint before the Consiglio di Stato. The sale could result in private ownership or public acquisition if authorities exercise pre-emption rights.