A major controversy has erupted surrounding Finarte’s latest memorabilia auction in Rome, which brought in a record-breaking total of over €200,000. While two of Lucio Battisti’s early-career guitars drew massive bids, it was the sale of the late singer-songwriter's private correspondence that triggered a fierce emotional backlash.
The lot included deeply personal letters written by a young Battisti to his mother in the 1960s, featuring tender, everyday reassurances such as: "I’m eating three times a day. Tell Dad not to worry."
The auction did not sit well with Battisti’s widow, Grazia Letizia Veronese. In a scathing open letter released through her lawyer, Donata De Nittis, she blasted the sale: "Putting a son's love and affection for his mother up for auction is utterly indefensible. Selling letters of such an intimate nature displays an absolute lack of respect and basic sensitivity."