Meet The Texas-Born Italian Princess Who’s Selling A $532 Million Roman Villa With A Caravaggio Ceiling

Meet The Texas-Born Italian Princess Who’s Selling A $532 Million Roman Villa With A Caravaggio Ceiling

Share to Linkedin Seated in a parlor of her lavish villa in central Rome—where Caravaggio painted his only known ceiling mural and Galileo once gazed at the stars from the roof—Her Serene Highness the Principessa Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi is feeling wistful about selling her late husband's ancestral home. "I just hope God brings an angel here that recognizes all that we've done, and honors Nicolò," the 72-year-old Principessa says reclining near 16th and 17th century portraits of his aristocratic ancestors, who purchased the estate 400 years ago. "I'll be satisfied—I've done all I can." The villa's $532 million price—established by an Italian court earlier this year—just might soften the blow. Villa Aurora, as it is widely known, sits near the highest point within Rome's Aurelian Walls, near where some historians believe Julius Caesar hosted Cleopatra at one of his homes. The 32, 000-square foot villa and surrounding garden are all that's left of a once 86. 9-acre estate owned by the Ludovisi family since 1621. In 1885, most of the property was redeveloped into smaller lots to create Via Veneto, one of the world's most glamorous streets. Ceiling Fans: In addition to a Caravaggio, Villa Aurora has frescoes by Domenichino