Rita Jenrette in the April 1981 issue of Playboy
An Italian princess who was born in Texas was kicked out of a house in Rome that has the only known ceiling painted by the famous painter Caravaggio. In January, a judge ordered the family to leave because they had not kept the house "in good condition." One reason was that an outside wall had fallen apart. Princess Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, a widow who used to be called Rita Carpenter, left the Casino dell'Aurora with four dogs in a cab after police came to enforce the judge's eviction order. The big green front door had new locks put on it before the princess had even left. The princess told a news service and other reporters on the street, "I feel like I'm in a surreal movie, like Sartre's 'No Exit,'" but her four Bichon Frisé dogs kept getting in the way.
Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c.1597-1600), Caravaggio
The order from Judge Miriam Iappelli told police to kick out anyone still living at the Casino dell'Aurora, take control of the villa, change the locks, and "get rid of or destroy" any furniture or papers left behind. The Casino dell'Aurora, also called Villa Ludovisi, was built in 1570. It has been at the center of an inheritance disagreement between the princess and the surviving family members from Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi's first marriage. The Ludovisi family has owned the house since the 1960s. In 2009, Princess Rita was the prince's third wife. In 2018, the prince died. The ceiling painting is in a small room on the second floor of the house. It was done by the Italian master painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The oil paint on plaster painting is nine feet wide and shows Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune, as well as a white horse. Cardinal Francesco Maria del Montea, an ambassador and supporter of the arts, asked for it to be made in 1597. It is the only mural on a roof that is known to have been painted by Caravaggio.
Princess Rita lived at the villa with her two young grandkids, her housekeeper, and the housekeeper's daughter until they were kicked out this week. The children from Prince Nicolo's first marriage said the Casino dell'Aurora belonged to them. They paid lawyers to get control of the property so it could be sold. When the house was put up for auction by a court order in December 2021, its estimated value was 471 million euros ($533 million). However, the listing said that the property would need 11 million euros ($12.5 million) in repairs to bring it up to code. It didn't get any bids, so it was put back on the market five months later with a lower starting price. It is not clear who will pay for the repairs that need to be done.
Selena Mattei