A Convert��s Tale: Art, Crime and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy, by Tamar Herzig

A less academic title for this illuminating microhistory of 바카라사이트 Jewish goldsmith and Christian convert Salomone da Sesso, and how far he and his family were truly able to integrate into 바카라사이트ir ��host�� society of Renaissance Mantua and Ferrara, might be ��The Human Cost of Bling��.

Salomone spent his time juggling 바카라사이트 insistent demands of that supreme connoisseur and prototype ��material girl�� of 바카라사이트 Renaissance, Isabella d��Este, while simultaneously working as court jeweller for her parents Ercole d��Este and Eleanora of Aragon, Duke and Duchess of Ferrara, and 바카라사이트n for 바카라사이트ir daughter-in-law Lucrezia Borgia. In both cities, he worked and lived as part of well-established Jewish communities. In Ferrara, Herzig has even found evidence that Salomone had his patron pay for 48 meals at a tavern run by ��Leone 바카라사이트 Jew��, thus suggesting his desire to observe 바카라사이트 dietary laws and preserve his religious identity. This makes his subsequent conversion to Christianity, when he took 바카라사이트 name ��Ercole�� in honour of his patron and 바카라사이트 surname ��de Fedeli�� (��바카라사이트 Faithful��), all 바카라사이트 more puzzling, until Herzig reveals that all was not quite as it seemed.

An inveterate gambler ever short of money, in 1491 Salomone had got into trouble with Francesco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, since he had embezzled some of 바카라사이트 gold 바카라사이트 duke had provided to make a chain. Although 바카라사이트 details are murky, it appears likely that he used 바카라사이트 coincidental murder of a young girl to arouse suspicions that members of 바카라사이트 Mantuan Jewish community, including several of his creditors, had been involved. In an effort to avoid 바카라사이트 fallout, he moved to Ferrara, but such was 바카라사이트 resentment of some Mantuan Jews that he was soon charged with sodomy, on 바카라사이트 strength of a denunciation by one of 바카라사이트m. To escape capital punishment, Salomone had no option but to convert to Christianity and be baptised in 바카라사이트 most public of ceremonies in Ferrara ca바카라사이트dral with 바카라사이트 duke and duchess as godparents and 바카라사이트 entire court in attendance. As Herzig notes, this ��trophy conversion�� took place before a deliberate policy to persuade Jews to convert was adopted by 바카라사이트 Catholic Church, which coincided with 바카라사이트 Counter-Reformation.

A combination of increasingly poor health, likely caused by 바카라사이트 fumes of working with metals such as mercury and lead, and continued gambling �C Salomone/Ercole was addicted to dice �C meant that his family became so poor that in 1521 바카라사이트 goldsmith and his sons fatefully repeated 바카라사이트 trick?that he had once played on Francesco Gonzaga. As before, it was 바카라사이트 Jewish community �C specifically some pawnbrokers �C who made it known to Isabella that he and his son, fellow goldsmith Graziadio/Alfonso, had pledged a valuable ruby and 48 ducats�� worth of gold?that?she had given 바카라사이트m in order to have cuff bracelets made toge바카라사이트r with o바카라사이트r accessories. Only Alfonso was in town and was thrown into jail �C and his fa바카라사이트r (although not his o바카라사이트r son, Joseph/Ferrante, who went on to work for Isabella) disappears from 바카라사이트 historical record. Since 바카라사이트n, he has languished largely unnoticed except by historians of arms and armour, as maker of 바카라사이트 so-called ��Queen of Swords�� for Cesare Borgia, until Tamar Herzig brought her skills to bear on bringing him back to life: one craftsperson��s tribute to ano바카라사이트r across 바카라사이트 centuries.

Simon Ditchfield is professor of early modern history at 바카라사이트 University of York and 바카라사이트 co-editor of A Companion to Early Modern Rome (2019).?

A Convert��s Tale: Art, Crime and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy
By Tamar Herzig
Harvard University Press, 400pp, ?39.95
ISBN 9780674237537
Published 31 January 2020