The Scarith of Scornello by Ingrid Rowland

The Scarith of Scornello by Ingrid Rowland

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.

"Rowland reconstructs the whole story with flair and zest" - Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times Book Review "Rowland skillfully weaves her way through this long-forgotten controversy, framing it within the cultural and political struggles between Rome and Tuscany and the larger intellectual debates of the period. At every turn she provides fascinating detail about the workings of the scholarly world.... In a mere 150 pages...she summons up a world and an age." - William Grimes, New York Times "A remarkable book.... Rowland's account... has the verve of a good detective story." - Joseph Connors, New York Review of Books "A fascinating, erudite book." - Spectator "A dazzling piece of scholarship." - Garry Wills, New York Times Book Review"

Ingrid D. Rowland is a professor, based in Rome, at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. A frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, she is the author of The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome and The Scarith of Scornello: A Tale of Renaissance Forgery. She has also published a translation of Vitruvius' Ten Books of Architecture and a history of Villa Taverna, the US ambassador's residence in Rome.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780226730363
ISBN 10	0226730360
Title	The Scarith of Scornello
Author	Ingrid Rowland
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	University Of Chicago Press
Year published	2004-12-31
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable