He had put up for sale at auction a counterfeit sculpture by the artist Fausto Melotti, but did not know it was a fake.

For this reason, the Court of Milan acquitted Johnny Dorelli of the charge of violating the Cultural Heritage Code: "The fact does not constitute a crime."

Not only that, he also returned the work to him, a provision against which the Milan Prosecutor's Office is appealing, insisting in the appeal in particular for the confiscation of the sculpture. It is "Three Times", archived since the 70s by the Marlborough Gallery as created by the Trentino artist who died in 1986.

As Corriere della Sera reconstructs, between 2017 and 2018 Dorelli took it to Christie's in Milan who contacted the artist's reference foundation which disowned the work due to an anomaly in the artist's signature stamp. Based on the catalogue, it appeared to have come from the Galleria San Luca in Bologna (which no longer exists) and where Gloria Guida (Dorelli's wife) testified that she had bought it in the 1980s.

In turn, Dorelli, now 86 years old, explained during the interrogation that he "did not know the artist's techniques" and added that the sculpture had been restored by a specialist who confirmed in the courtroom that he had not noticed the falsity of the Opera.

According to the judge, "the incontrovertible proof of the psychological element" cannot be said to have been achieved, i.e. of intent, but the Prosecutor's appeal challenges the sentence for not having ordered " the mandatory confiscation to prevent the circulation of counterfeit but sold as authentic works of art , which would also result in serious damage to the market of works of art which in itself presents traceability problems".

(Unioneonline/D)

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