"Che il quadro parta pure per la Prussia". Esportazioni e trafugamenti di opere nel contesto della politica pontificia nell’età della Restaurazione

The illegal sale of Raphael’s Madonna Colonna to the king of Prussia in 1827, and the subsequent approval of Leo XII to its export from Rome, establish the context to reassess the mutual implications of the protection of the artistic heritage and the diplomatic relationships of the Papal States after the Restoration. Analysis of further cases of artworks which were either exported, or interdicted from trading and confiscated, together with examples related to the tightening of the penalties after the issuing of the Edict Pacca, allows to define the significant difference that existed between the exports approved for works which were believed “worthless”, the exports pursued by infringing the law, and the exports granted for reasons of State. In this framework, the artistic heritage acquires a new strategic and diplomatic value in relation to the neat international policy of the Papacy in the third decade of 1800s.