A convert's tale : art, crime, and Jewish apostasy in Renaissance Italy / Tamar Herzig.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herzig, Tamar, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Series:

I Tatti studies in Italian Renaissance history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fedeli, Ercole dei, approximately 1465-.

Fedeli, Ercole dei.

Christian converts from Judaism--Italy--History--To 1500.

Christian converts from Judaism.

Christian converts from Judaism--Italy--History--16th century.

Goldsmiths--Italy--Biography.

Goldsmiths.

Art patronage--Italy--History.

Art patronage.

History.

Italy.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 388 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"An intimate portrait, based on newly discovered archival sources, of one of the most famous Jewish artists of the Italian Renaissance who, charged with a scandalous crime, rejected his faith and converted to Catholicism. In 1491 the renowned Jewish goldsmith Salomone da Sesso converted to Catholicism. Born in the mid-fifteenth century to a Jewish family in Florence, Salomone later settled in Ferrara, where he was regarded as a virtuoso artist whose exquisite jewelry and lavishly engraved swords were prized by Italy's ruling elite. But rumors circulated about Salomone's behavior, scandalizing the Jewish community, who turned him over to the civil authorities. Charged with sodomy, Salomone was sentenced to die but agreed to renounce Judaism to save his life. He was baptized, taking the name Ercole "de' Fedeli" ("One of the Faithful"). With the help of powerful patrons like Duchess Eleonora of Aragon and Duke Ercole d'Este, his namesake, Ercole lived as a practicing Catholic for three more decades. Drawing on newly discovered archival sources, Tamar Herzig traces the dramatic story of his life, half a century before ecclesiastical authorities made Jewish conversion a priority of the Catholic Church"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: The convert's tale

I. The virtuoso Jew: A moneylender's son turned goldsmith

The Jewish widow's testament

Eleonora of Aragon's court goldsmith

A murdered child

Friends and foes

II. Apostasy: A Jewish sodomite?

Conversions: voluntary and coerced

Princely justice and Christian piety

Baptizing the Jews

III. A family of converts: A haunting past

Travels and troubles

Cesare Borgia's "Queen of Swords"

Anna: Lucrezia Borgia's damsel

Sister Theodora: from Jewish girl to bride of Christ

The family workshop: Master Ercole and his sons

IV. Between Christians and Jews: In prison, again

Plague and malaria

Ferrara at war

Glitter and grief

Gold pawned to the Jews

Epilogue: One of the faithful?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780674237537

0674237536

OCLC:

1089966414