{"id":1776561,"date":"2022-12-15T13:48:01","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T18:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1776561"},"modified":"2022-12-15T13:48:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T18:48:04","slug":"italian-firm-denies-claims-it-peddled-rights-to-priceless-vatican-art-after-daily-wire-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/italian-firm-denies-claims-it-peddled-rights-to-priceless-vatican-art-after-daily-wire-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Firm Denies Claims It Peddled Rights To Priceless Vatican Art After Daily Wire Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fitalian-firm-denies-claims-it-peddled-rights-to-priceless-vatican-art-after-daily-wire-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1776561&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>VATICAN CITY \u2014 The Italian company accused in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/italian-firm-peddling-rights-to-vaticans-priceless-art-attorney-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bombshell Daily Wire report<\/a> of improperly selling licensing rights to the Holy See\u2019s vast trove of priceless art denied wrongdoing in a statement Wednesday even as reports suggested Pope Francis is looking into the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Scripta Maneant, which a New York attorney accused of misrepresenting itself as the custodian of rights to art including masterworks by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, denied that it had ever claimed the authority to broker rights to images and video of the art owned by Vatican Museums. The denial came after the Italian press picked up the story and preceded statements from other key subjects of the unfolding story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScripta Maneant has never claimed and never will claim to be able to assign any image or any\u00a0image license to anyone, either for this kind of activity or for activities of a more purely editorial\u00a0nature,\u201d Scripta Maneant CEO Giorgio Armaroli said in a statement released hours after the Daily Wire report.<\/p>\n<p>Armaroli said that his company, which in 2015 secured rights to Vatican art for a high-end book that sold for $22,000, had entered into talks with New York-based Museum Masters International (MMI), which sought rights to Vatican art for a virtual exhibition. MMI was at the time represented by attorney Sarah Speno, who told The Daily Wire she came to question whether Scripta Maneant had the Vatican\u2019s permission to broker licensing rights.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire reported that correspondence between Speno and Scripta Maneant from over the summer revealed that the Italian company claimed to be working with Vatican Museums Vice Director Monsignor Paolo Nicolini when it sought an $82,500 advance from MMI for a mid-six-figures deal. But when Speno pressed for assurance that Scripta Maneant was indeed authorized to broker rights to the artworks, her concerns were not put to rest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can we ask the Vatican on Monday to authorize us to transfer the rights of Sistina virtually for the world (their most precious and sacred asset) to a defaulting customer?\u201d Armaroli wrote in a September 10 email obtained by The Daily Wire. \u201cThe Vatican now \u2026 asks us not to disclose the authorization letter to MMI until payment has been made \u2026 therefore I really don\u2019t understand how to fix the problem without your making such a payment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Armaroli\u2019s reaction heightened Speno\u2019s suspicions, eventually resulting in the deal being scuttled.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire revealed that at least one other company had used images and video of Vatican art for an \u201cimmersive\u201d exhibit after striking a deal with Scripta Maneant. But Nicolini told The Daily Wire he had never signed off on allowing Scripta Maneant to act as an agent of the Vatican in such deals.<\/p>\n<p>In his statement, Armaroli said the aborted deal with MMI would have involved his company\u2019s close involvement and indicated that it would have been subject to other unspecified \u201cagreements,\u201d although he provided no claim or evidence of an ongoing contractual relationship with the Vatican.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the present case, we were to produce a series of videos intended to give rise to the above-mentioned virtual exhibition,\u201d he said. \u201cThese videos are then marketed by us through a \u2018license,\u2019 which stipulates that the use be made according to very detailed agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Armaroli was releasing his statement, MMI chief Marilyn Goldberg released a statement of her own disavowing Speno. Goldberg said MMI fired Speno after the attorney advised MMI not to go through with the deal and said she intended to go public with her suspicions about Scripta Maneant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe prepared to pay the $82,500 advance refundable guarantee, [but] Ms. Speno advised us NOT to pay, because she stated that it (document submitted by Scripta Maneant, which were referenced in correspondence as \u2018proof of Vatican approval\u2019) was not an authentic signature, and that it was a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That prompted MMI to drop Speno, who then made good on her pledge to go public with her suspicions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe immediately terminated her because we never approved any negativity against Scripta Maneant, Vatican Museum, or the Vatican,\u201d Goldberg said.<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Speno says she acted because she believes the cash-strapped Holy See may have been deprived of substantial revenue, potentially for years. On Wednesday, the Italian newspaper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilmessaggero.it\/vaticano\/musei_vaticani_truffa_furto_opere_arte_ultime_notizie-7113119.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Il Messaggero<\/a> confirmed that a November meeting between Pope Francis and Nicolini had been prompted by a Daily Wire inquiry and concerned the sale of rights to Vatican art. Il Messaggero also reported that the Vatican is conducting an investigation into the matter, although another outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/roma.corriere.it\/notizie\/cronaca\/22_dicembre_15\/maxi-truffa-vaticano-diritti-cappella-sistina-51fd00c5-89cc-4c0b-8fe6-7d7cce955xlk.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corriere della Sera<\/a>, quoted a Vatican Museums source saying there is no investigation ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Speno told The Daily Wire she had simply performed due diligence while serving as MMI\u2019s attorney and sought to ensure that her client was legally obtaining rights to high-resolution digital images of artworks owned by the Vatican.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs with any jurisdiction or country, there are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VATICAN CITY \u2014 The Italian company accused in a bombshell Daily Wire report of improperly selling licensing rights to the Holy See\u2019s vast trove of priceless art denied wrongdoing in a statement Wednesday even as reports suggested Pope Francis is looking into the matter. Scripta Maneant, which a New York attorney accused of misrepresenting itself &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1626,"featured_media":1776564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[7331,4856,6202,4775,5246,8884,9366,8882,3819,5579,9367,6195],"class_list":["post-1776561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-art","tag-claims","tag-daily","tag-denies","tag-firm","tag-italian","tag-peddled","tag-priceless","tag-report","tag-rights","tag-vatican","tag-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1776561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1776561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1776564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1776561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1776561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1776561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}