The Carabinieri art squad on
Thursday seized a manuscript of Giacomo Leopardi's famous poem
The Infinite and two people were placed under investigation,
police sources said.
The manuscript was pulled from auction in Rome in June,
possibly for questions of authenticity.
The early-19th-century poem of the Romantic's yearning to
travel was put on the block with a starting bid of 150,000 euros
by Minerva Auctions.
The news of its withdrawal was announced by the culture
assessor of the central Marche region, where Leopardi was from.
It was unclear if the manuscript simply found no bidders or
if concerns were raised about whether it came from Leopardi's
hand.
"It earned us time to deeply analyze the manuscript," said
Marche Councilor Pietro Marcolini.
Two other confirmed manuscripts of the poem are known to
exist in Naples and Visso, in Marche.
The manuscript up for auction was discovered by the culture
director in the town of Cingoli, Marche among the papers of a
private collection.
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