Police seize Vasari papers

The writings and letters of Renaissance-era art historian Giorgio Vasari were seized by police on Friday in the latest twist in a long and tangled story of an aristocratic family's fight to sell them.
The heirs of the late Count Giovanni Festari have been trying to offload the precious collection of letters since last fall when news that an unnamed Russian gas magnate was willing to put up 150 million euros for them horrified art lovers around the world.
Rumoured by sceptics to be a ploy to force the government to make a hefty counter offer, the deal was thought to have fallen through, informs ansa.it.
But a lawyer representing the Festaris, Guido Cosulich, said Friday that the sale, through Russian holding company Ross Engineering had indeed gone through and that the government had until Monday to beat their offer.

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