Italy's culture minister pledges to buy more artworks, as latest purchase shown in Rome

ROME (AP) — Italy's Culture Ministry put a recently purchased devotional painting by early Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina on display in the Senate on Thursday — and the culture minister says such acquisitions would be stepped up.

The $14.9 million purchase from Sotheby's auction house in New York of the painting titled “Ecce Homo,” comes just weeks after the ministry paid a private collector 30 million euros (about $35 million) for a portrait by Caravaggio that was part of a blockbuster show in the capital last year.

“It is true that there is a policy to step up these acquisitions,'' Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli told The Associated Press in his office after the work was unveiled. "We want people to understand how important it is for us to bring works of great artistic and public significance back to Italy and make them available to the world as well as to Italians.”

Giuli flew to New York this week to complete the deal with Sotheby's for the double-sided devotional painting on a wooden panel measuring 20.3 cm (7.9 inches) by 14.9 (5.8 inches).

One side features the “Ecce Homo” painting of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head and a rope around his neck, depicting the moment Pontius Pilate hands Jesus over to the crowd for crucifixion. On the other side, is a painting of Saint Jerome the Penitent.

The artwork dating from around 1470 was carried by its owner in a leather bag for years and pulled out to be used in prayer. The face of Saint Jerome has been worn away by the owner’s repeated devotional kissing.

Giuli said that the Italian government became aware of the work as it was about to go on auction, and intervened.

“Our pockets are not deep, as the Culture Ministry budget is not even 0.3 percent of the national budget, but it is large enough to purchase works of art,'' Giuli said, adding that the acquisitions do not impact resources to other government activities, which have different funding lines.

The art work will initially be displayed in the National Museum of Abruzzo in L’Aquila before being moved to other locations in Italy with the goal of giving as many Italians as possible the chance to see it in person.

The acquisition comes two weeks after Italy bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio, one of the largest state investments ever for a single artwork. The painting depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII.

Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a tempera-on-panel painting dating from around 1470 and measuring 20.3 by 14.9 centimeters, recently acquired by the Italian General Directorate of Museums for $14.9 million, or about 12.6 million euros is on display in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026 . (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

From left, Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa, Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, ITA President Sandro Pappalardo, and Director of the National Museum of Abruzzo Federica Zalabra look at Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a tempera-on-panel painting dating from around 1470 and measuring 20.3 by 14.9 centimeters, recently acquired by the Italian General Directorate of Museums for $14.9 million, or about 12.6 million euros in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026 . (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Journalists look at Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a tempera-on-panel painting dating from around 1470 and measuring 20.3 by 14.9 centimeters, recently acquired by the Italian General Directorate of Museums for $14.9 million, or about 12.6 million euros in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026 . (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Journalists look at Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a tempera-on-panel painting dating from around 1470 and measuring 20.3 by 14.9 centimeters, recently acquired by the Italian General Directorate of Museums for $14.9 million, or about 12.6 million euros in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026 . (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Journalists look at Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo, a tempera-on-panel painting dating from around 1470 and measuring 20.3 by 14.9 centimeters, recently acquired by the Italian General Directorate of Museums for $14.9 million, or about 12.6 million euros in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026 . (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A man who fled to China and his sister have been charged after an explosive device was left outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this month. Their mother was detained for deportation, having overstayed her visa, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Mary Zheng, 27, were charged Wednesday in separate federal indictments. The sister was arrested upon her return from China, where she flew with her brother after the threat. Both have U.S. citizenship, U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said during a news conference.

“If you threaten to harm somebody or if you harm somebody in the Middle District of Florida, you will be brought to task,” Kehoe said.

Alen Zheng faces 40 years in prison if convicted of attempting to damage government property and unlawfully making and possessing the explosive device found in a package outside the base. Ann Mary Zheng faces 30 years if found guilty of witness tampering and being an accessory after the fact to the crime, by allegedly selling the car he used to drop off the package.

A defense attorney for Ann Mary Zheng declined to comment. Online court records didn’t list an attorney for Alen Zheng.

Kehoe said the investigation developed very quickly after a suspicious package was found outside MacDill on March 16. Agents determined that Alen Zheng actually planted the device on March 10 before making a 911 call to inform authorities about the bomb. Air Force personnel had searched the base without discovering the device initially.

The day after the 911 call, the Zhengs sold their Mercedes-Benz SUV and flew to China. Ann Mary returned to the U.S. several days later. By then, investigators had used phone data to connect the 911 call to Alen Zheng, and spotted the SUV on surveillance video. By the time they reached CarMax, the car had been vacuumed and cleaned, but they were still able to find evidence including residue from the explosive, Kehoe said.

When agents executed a warrant at the family's home, they reported finding explosive device components. Meanwhile, the device was flown by helicopter to an FBI lab in Huntsville, Alabama, for further examination, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor said.

Kehoe said he's not sure if the siblings also have Chinese citizenship. He said they have no immediate evidence that Alen Zheng was working on behalf of the Chinese government or any other country. Officials are working to have him returned to the U.S. to face prosecution, he said.

The U.S. Central Command is located at MacDill and is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia. MacDill is one of the U.S. bases that has been on heightened alert since the war in Iran began.

Another man was arrested earlier this week on charges of making threatening phone calls to the base days after the device was discovered, though investigators haven’t accused that caller of planting any devices. There was no immediate connection between that caller and the Zhengs.

File - The U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base is seen, Feb. 6, 2017, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)