On March 18, Sotheby’s London is expected to fetch more than £2 million for the sale of an exquisite collection of paintings, sculptures and works from the late designer Gianni Versace’s Villa Fontalle, on Lake Cuomo, Italy, comprising of 550 lots. 

The house was built by and eccentric visiting Englishman, Lord Charles Currie in 1776 and was restored to its neo-classic glory under the watchful eye of Gianni Versace himself. He purchased the abandoned Villa Fontanelle in 1997 and set out to make it his own personal Arcadia. It is said to be his favorite residence, for which he spared no expense.  Highlights of the sale include a spectacular pair of life size sculptures of Antonio Canova’s Pugilisits wrestlers in plaster casts, which were displayed in Gianni’s bedroom, c.1800, estimated at about £25,000- £40,000; an exceptional pair of Italian cherry wood and patinated bronze-mounted breakfront bookcases, by Karl Roos, originally commissioned by Princess Pauline Borghese for the Library at Palazzo Borghese in Rome, estimated at  about £60,000- £100,000.

Among the paintings to be offered is the tempera on canvas, a tondo, Herucles at the Crossroads Between Vice and Virtue, attributed to Pelagio Palagi, c.1820, estimated at about £25,000-£40,000.

Villa Fontanelle collection is a reflecting mirror image of all that Gianni Versace was, “for better of worse”, he says. “This is the last opportunity to enter into Versace’s world and buy something from a collection that is representative of his legacy,” comments Mario Tavella, Sotheby’s European Deputy Chairman.

[Sotheby's]