Ludovisi

A marble statue was discovered in close proximity to the Herodeion, at the intersection of Erechtheiou and N. Kallisperi streets, during the supervision of a natural gas network installation project.

A white marble statue of a naked male figure has been discovered during preparatory works to lay natural gas pipes, the Culture Ministry has said.

The statue, in the Hermes Ludovisi style, was unearthed in a meter-wide trench to the south of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, at the junction of Erechthiou and Kalliperi streets.

A villa in Rome containing the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio went on a court-ordered auction block on Jan. 18, thanks to an inheritance dispute pitting the heirs of one of Rome's aristocratic families against their stepmother, a Texas-born princess.

A villa in the heart of Rome that features the only known ceiling painted by Caravaggio is being put up for auction by court order after the home was restored by its last occupants: A Texas-born princess and her late husband, a member of one of Rome's aristocratic families.