Vatican detains ex-employee who allegedly tried to sell back manuscript of Bernini's basilica canopy
Vatican police have detained a former employee after he allegedly tried to sell a 17th century manuscript back to the Holy See
ROME (AP) — Vatican police have detained a former employee on charges of attempted extortion after he allegedly tried to sell a 17th-century gilded manuscript describing Bernini’s designs for the altar canopy of St. Peter’s Basilica back to the Holy See.
Vatican prosecutors said that the 18-page manuscript, which apparently contains the first known specifications for the gilding of the baldacchino canopy, had disappeared from the basilica archives.
The person implicated had worked for the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the entity that administers the basilica, and was attempting to sell the manuscript to the Fabbrica when he was arrested on May 27, according to a statement from prosecutors released by the Holy See press office.
The statement suggested that Vatican law enforcement had essentially set a trap: They launched an investigation after the basilica first made a complaint about the manuscript, and then followed the negotiations for the purchase of it until money actually exchanged hands on May 27 in the Vatican.
