“After a protracted legal battle, the Italian culture ministry has evicted Benjamin Harnwell, a British Catholic conservative, from the 13th-century Italian monastery where he planned to launch a right-wing political academy with Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. The ministry is now enlisting a coalition of community groups to open the Certosa di Trisulti to the public and determine what purpose it should serve. But Harnwell, who says he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, appealed the case to the Corte di Cassazione, the Italian Supreme Court.”

“Following a ruling this spring by the Consiglio di Stato, Italy’s highest administrative court, Harn-well was ordered to vacate the property, located on a wooded hill in Collepardo, south-east of Rome, by 26 July. Culture ministry officials subsequently conducted an inventory of the buildings, including a cloister, a library and an 18th-century pharmacy. The initial survey suggests nothing has been damaged, a ministry spokesman tells The Art Newspaper. The monastery is a listed national monument overseen by the culture ministry’s director general of museums, former Pompeii chief Massimo Osanna. Part of the complex will be opened to visitors as a heritage attraction in the coming months, but there will be a longer “period of reflection” before its primary use is decided, the spokesman says. The ministry is partnering with the Lazio region and Trisulti Bene Comune, an alliance of ten local associations, to develop a long-term plan for the site” – The Art Newspaper.