The Scarith of Scornello – A Tale of Renaissance Forgery - Hardcover

Rowland, Ingrid D

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226730360 ISBN 13: 9780226730363

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2005

Synopsis

Bored teenager Curzio Inghirami staged perhaps the most outlandish prank of the seventeenth century when he hatched a wild scheme that preyed on the Italian fixation with ancestry by forging an array of ancient Latin and Etruscan documents. Stashing the counterfeit treasure in scarith (capsules made of hair and mud) near Scornello, Curzio reeled in seventeenth-century Tuscans who were eager to establish proof of their heritage and history. However, despite their excitement, none of these proud Italians could actually read the ancient Etruscan language, and they simply perpetuated the hoax. Written with humor and energy by Renaissance expert Ingrid Rowland, "The Scarith of Scornello" traces the career of this young scam artist whose "findings" reached the Vatican shortly after Galileo was condemned by the inquisition, inspiring participants on both sides of the affair to clash again - this time over Etruscan history. In her investigation of this seventeenth-century caper, Rowland captivates readers with her obvious delight in Curzio's far-reaching prank.

About this title

About the Author

Ingrid D. Rowland has taught at the University of Chicago and at the American Academy in Rome. She is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and the author of several books, including The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome and The Ecstatic Journey: Athanasius Kircher in Baroque Rome.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226730360
• ISBN 13: 9780226730363
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192