The mystery of the thirteen disputed paintings in the Agnelli legacy is enriched with a new twist. «They were donated by Donna Marella to her grandchildren John, Lapo and Ginevra and are in their homes», is what the two historic housekeepers of the Avvocato family would have said, plus a third person, heard as witnesses by the financiers of Milan in recent months. Other works would be found at the Lingotto, in the vault of the Pinacoteca Agnelli. The canvases, including a painting by Claude Monet, which once furnished Villa Frescot and Villar Perosa in Turin and a family residence in Rome would therefore, according to the report signed by the PEF Unit of the Financial Police and arrive on the table of the Milanese prosecutors Cristian Barilli and Eugenio Fusco a few days ago, perfectly “tracked” and “traceable”.
There would therefore be no mystery about the paintings, whose alleged disappearance is the subject of an investigation by the Milan prosecutor’s office for receiving stolen goods against unknown persons, born from a complaint by the Elkann’s mother, Margherita de Pahlen, who together with the president of Stellantis and his brothers a long dispute for the inheritance both in criminal and civil matters. She is an investigation that the magistrates had asked to dismiss, but which was instead enriched by new investigations – including the testimonies of the housekeepers – by order of the investigating judge Lidia Castellucci. After accessing the databases of the competent offices of the Ministry of Culture and in the Export Office Systems platform, the financiers concluded that there was no “artistic restriction” on the paintings in question, which generally exists for works of particular value and necessary possibly to move them or to sell them. The Milanese file will most likely be forwarded to Turin, which is handling the main investigation into the inheritance. Meanwhile, sources close to de Pahlen, assisted by the lawyer Dario Trevisan, specify that the paintings reported in the Milan proceedings could not have been donated, as Marella would not have had ownership of them.
Furthermore, from what is known to the legal team supporting the Elkann’s mother, no donation document has been formalized to date. According to Margherita, essentially, any donation would therefore be invalid and the immediate return of the works to the (presumed) legitimate owner would therefore be required.
