Read The Medici Conspiracy Online
Authors: Peter Watson
The Medici Conspiracy (71 page)
Pasquale Camera's handwritten “organigram,” found by investigators in Danilo Zicchi's apartment.
Forensic Archaeology in the FreeportThis is a fuller list of the specific comments on particular objects as drawn up by Professor Bartoloni and her colleagues during their inspection of the contents of Corridor 17. Some details are repeated from the main text. Specialist archaeologists are referred to the actual fifty-eight-page report.
Among the Medici objects were:
⢠An iron age
fibula
(ninth century BC) with a stirrup-shaped disk, the arch part covered in a twisted gold thread. The
fibula
is aptly described as the “grandmother” of the safety pin, but its use was rather more dramatic in antiquity, being employed to hold together the drapes in clothing. It became a decorative object in its own right and often identified the social and economic status of the wearer. The stirrup-shaped disk was the end part, where the two pins fitted together, one of the pins usually being curved, unlike modern safety pins. The experts pointed out that this
fibula
was very similar to one legally found in Tarquinia in the necropolis of Poggio dell'Impiccato, which dates from the second half of the ninth century.
Fibulae
like this one were only rarely made in gold.
fibula
(ninth century BC) with a stirrup-shaped disk, the arch part covered in a twisted gold thread. The
fibula
is aptly described as the “grandmother” of the safety pin, but its use was rather more dramatic in antiquity, being employed to hold together the drapes in clothing. It became a decorative object in its own right and often identified the social and economic status of the wearer. The stirrup-shaped disk was the end part, where the two pins fitted together, one of the pins usually being curved, unlike modern safety pins. The experts pointed out that this
fibula
was very similar to one legally found in Tarquinia in the necropolis of Poggio dell'Impiccato, which dates from the second half of the ninth century.
Fibulae
like this one were only rarely made in gold.
⢠Five other
fibulae
were decorated with little ducks, a motif previously found only in Villanovan necropolises in Bologna, Tarquinia, Veio, Capua and Pontecagnano; a sixth
fibula,
decorated with a feline figure, was very similar to one found in the Tomb of the Warrior at Tarquinia.
fibulae
were decorated with little ducks, a motif previously found only in Villanovan necropolises in Bologna, Tarquinia, Veio, Capua and Pontecagnano; a sixth
fibula,
decorated with a feline figure, was very similar to one found in the Tomb of the Warrior at Tarquinia.
⢠Several of the eighth-century BC ceramics in Medici's warehouse were specific to the necropolises of Campania, either from the Sarno Valley or Cumaâthat is, they were made there, in antiquity, and nowhere else.
⢠Three small
amphorae
with knotted handles, two blended
bacellate
(vases decorated in bas-relief), and three ribbed
olle
(a different form of wine pitcher, like a
oinochoe
but with fat handles) with arched cordons (i.e., decorated with ribbing in the shape of arches). These designs were made
exclusively
in the Vulci area, in the eighth and seventh centuries BC, so can only have come from there.
amphorae
with knotted handles, two blended
bacellate
(vases decorated in bas-relief), and three ribbed
olle
(a different form of wine pitcher, like a
oinochoe
but with fat handles) with arched cordons (i.e., decorated with ribbing in the shape of arches). These designs were made
exclusively
in the Vulci area, in the eighth and seventh centuries BC, so can only have come from there.
⢠Thirty-two miniature cups and twenty miniature
olle
were “very similar”
to a series of miniature vases (especially
olle
) found on an official dig at Bandinella, Canino, in 1992, after the discovery of an illegal dig.
olle
were “very similar”
to a series of miniature vases (especially
olle
) found on an official dig at Bandinella, Canino, in 1992, after the discovery of an illegal dig.
⢠Five
kantharoi
with cusped handles (i.e., the handles were embossed with small cones, in a row), and three small
amphorae,
also with cusped handles, all dated to the seventh century BC, “can be easily recognized as coming from Crustumerium,” where cups and
amphorae
“became famously cusped.” Francesco di Gennaro, inspector of the Archaeological Superintendency for Rome, reported illegal digs in the Marcigliana or Monte del Bufalo area, where the necropolis of Crustumerium is located: “The greater part of information on funereal customs, architectural typologies, local artisan production and imported products, comes from the digs of the largest sepulchre complex known, the one south-east of Monte del Bufalo, where repeated clandestine digs have caused the loss of data which we presume covers half the overall number of burials.... The overall number of the plundered sepulchral monuments . . . is now evaluated at not less than one thousand; there is carpet-destruction and plundering of the burials. . . . Archaeological material of unquestionable Crustumerium provenance has recently been seized (for example, in Monte Rotondo near Rome, photographs of objects for sale were circulated in Cerveteri and Ladispoli) but are also exhibited for sale on the American antiquities market where a large quantity of Crustumerium objects is on show in antiquarians' shops in Manhattan. . . .”
kantharoi
with cusped handles (i.e., the handles were embossed with small cones, in a row), and three small
amphorae,
also with cusped handles, all dated to the seventh century BC, “can be easily recognized as coming from Crustumerium,” where cups and
amphorae
“became famously cusped.” Francesco di Gennaro, inspector of the Archaeological Superintendency for Rome, reported illegal digs in the Marcigliana or Monte del Bufalo area, where the necropolis of Crustumerium is located: “The greater part of information on funereal customs, architectural typologies, local artisan production and imported products, comes from the digs of the largest sepulchre complex known, the one south-east of Monte del Bufalo, where repeated clandestine digs have caused the loss of data which we presume covers half the overall number of burials.... The overall number of the plundered sepulchral monuments . . . is now evaluated at not less than one thousand; there is carpet-destruction and plundering of the burials. . . . Archaeological material of unquestionable Crustumerium provenance has recently been seized (for example, in Monte Rotondo near Rome, photographs of objects for sale were circulated in Cerveteri and Ladispoli) but are also exhibited for sale on the American antiquities market where a large quantity of Crustumerium objects is on show in antiquarians' shops in Manhattan. . . .”
⢠A silver goblet with scale-decoration (i.e., with a fishlike surface): These have “only ever been found” in very high-level tomb dowries in Palestrina, Caere, Veio, or Casal del Fosso.
⢠A tubular
askos
in laminated bronze (an
askos
is a smaller vase, maybe three inches long, used for oils or perfume and often in the shape of animals), decorated with a rich apparatus of small chains. There is a parallel in “the rich tomb of the Bronze Chariot in Vulci.”
askos
in laminated bronze (an
askos
is a smaller vase, maybe three inches long, used for oils or perfume and often in the shape of animals), decorated with a rich apparatus of small chains. There is a parallel in “the rich tomb of the Bronze Chariot in Vulci.”
⢠One belt hook with stylized equine
protome
. A
protome
is an embossed face, human or animal. Several similar objects have been found in the Vulci area.
protome
. A
protome
is an embossed face, human or animal. Several similar objects have been found in the Vulci area.
⢠So-called
impasto
ceramics (what is called “coarseware” in English) of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, similar to those found in southern Lazio or northern Campania at Teano. In recent years illegal digs have been reported around the Liri River, particularly at Teano where a sanctuary suffered “intense clandestine digs.”
impasto
ceramics (what is called “coarseware” in English) of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, similar to those found in southern Lazio or northern Campania at Teano. In recent years illegal digs have been reported around the Liri River, particularly at Teano where a sanctuary suffered “intense clandestine digs.”
⢠Two magnificent painted Etruscan
amphorae
, “in fragments but reconstructable.” This was attributed by Dr. Bartoloni and the other experts to the Painter of the Cranes, who was active in Caere in the second quarter of the seventh century BC. Another
amphora
, decorated with two huge fishes in netted squares, and a rare
askos
with a frieze of animals were both by the same Painter of the Cranes.
amphorae
, “in fragments but reconstructable.” This was attributed by Dr. Bartoloni and the other experts to the Painter of the Cranes, who was active in Caere in the second quarter of the seventh century BC. Another
amphora
, decorated with two huge fishes in netted squares, and a rare
askos
with a frieze of animals were both by the same Painter of the Cranes.
⢠One biconic vase, painted in the “white-on-red” technique, had a frieze of small Phoenician palms. A biconic vase is shaped roughly like this,
, like two cones, one on top of the other. “White-on-red” simply means that the decoration was white and the ground red. And, say the experts, “this is an excellent example of Cerveteri production,” attributable to the “Bottega dell'Urna Calabresi.”
Bottega
is Italian for “studio” or an “artist's workshop.” In this case then, these biconic vases were in the manner of a well-known example, called the Urna Calabresi, but by different hands, varying slightly from the unknown painter who created the masterpiece in this particular style.
, like two cones, one on top of the other. “White-on-red” simply means that the decoration was white and the ground red. And, say the experts, “this is an excellent example of Cerveteri production,” attributable to the “Bottega dell'Urna Calabresi.”Bottega
is Italian for “studio” or an “artist's workshop.” In this case then, these biconic vases were in the manner of a well-known example, called the Urna Calabresi, but by different hands, varying slightly from the unknown painter who created the masterpiece in this particular style.
⢠One
olla
, also painted in “white-on-red” concentric circles, belongsâaccording to the expertsâto the “Bolsena Group” from the Vulci hinterland. A “group” is more diffuse than a
bottega:
The vases are in the same style, but no specific master is known to name the group after, so the group is named for an area, in this case Lake Bolsena, near Vulci.
olla
, also painted in “white-on-red” concentric circles, belongsâaccording to the expertsâto the “Bolsena Group” from the Vulci hinterland. A “group” is more diffuse than a
bottega:
The vases are in the same style, but no specific master is known to name the group after, so the group is named for an area, in this case Lake Bolsena, near Vulci.
⢠Figured Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics (i.e., vases in the Corinthian style, but made in Etruria). The circulation of this class of vase, produced between 630 and 550 BC in southern Etruria, and to some extent in Etruscanized Campania, was limited to Etruria, ancient Lazio, and Campania, with rare sea export into Greek Gallia (southern France), Sardinia, and Carthage (North Africa). In the Medici Geneva seizure,
Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics are present in some numbers, produced by a variety of painters and “botteghe.” The most antique is a rare
oinochoe
with a frieze depicting ibexes and is attributable to the Swallows Painter, who was an eastern Greek ceramicist active in Vulci at the beginning of the period of Etruscan-Corinthian ware. “Thus the vase, of modest quality, certainly comes from the Vulci area.” Another vase, an
olpe
(a slender wine pitcher with high handles), is attributable to a pupil of the Bearded Sphinx Painter and “would seem to be by the same hand as the
olpe
in the Faina Museum of Orvieto.” A third vase, an
oinochoe
with a narrow body, and painted in various colors (“polychrome”), is “probably attributable to the Feoli Painter, a âsecond generation' maestro of Vulci ceramic masters, of whom only one other work with the same technique is known.”
Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics are present in some numbers, produced by a variety of painters and “botteghe.” The most antique is a rare
oinochoe
with a frieze depicting ibexes and is attributable to the Swallows Painter, who was an eastern Greek ceramicist active in Vulci at the beginning of the period of Etruscan-Corinthian ware. “Thus the vase, of modest quality, certainly comes from the Vulci area.” Another vase, an
olpe
(a slender wine pitcher with high handles), is attributable to a pupil of the Bearded Sphinx Painter and “would seem to be by the same hand as the
olpe
in the Faina Museum of Orvieto.” A third vase, an
oinochoe
with a narrow body, and painted in various colors (“polychrome”), is “probably attributable to the Feoli Painter, a âsecond generation' maestro of Vulci ceramic masters, of whom only one other work with the same technique is known.”
⢠One-hundred fifty-three Etrusco-Corinthian
aryballoi
and
alabastra:
“. . . the collection comes from the plundering of about 20â30 room-tombs of southern Etruria (one object still has the remains of an iron nail with which it was attached to a wall of the room).”
aryballoi
and
alabastra:
“. . . the collection comes from the plundering of about 20â30 room-tombs of southern Etruria (one object still has the remains of an iron nail with which it was attached to a wall of the room).”
⢠Buccheri: Bucchero ceramics are a form of ceramic invented by the Etruscans and are black inside and out. They are made by firing in an oven with no oxygen. “As is known,” say the experts, “they were the ânational' ceramic of the Etruscans,” being produced throughout Etruria and Campania from the mid-seventh, through the sixth, to the beginning of the fifth century BC, with an early start in Caere around 675 BC. Their circulation was wider than that of Etrusco-Corinthian ceramics and even slightly touched southern Italy, Sicily, and the Po Valley in the north. In Geneva, Medici had 118
intact
vases, all of which “appear to have been produced in southern Etruria.... With the knowledge we have today, the vast majority of the vases can be judged as coming from the âbotteghe,' active between 675 and 575 BC, of Caere or its cultural area.” All were distinguished by graffiti in the form of “small fans” made up of dotted lines. Buccheri have been widely studied and the minute differences in the mineral composition of the clay have been associated with different specific sites. This latest science explains why the experts could be so sure which botteghe these Buccheri came from.
intact
vases, all of which “appear to have been produced in southern Etruria.... With the knowledge we have today, the vast majority of the vases can be judged as coming from the âbotteghe,' active between 675 and 575 BC, of Caere or its cultural area.” All were distinguished by graffiti in the form of “small fans” made up of dotted lines. Buccheri have been widely studied and the minute differences in the mineral composition of the clay have been associated with different specific sites. This latest science explains why the experts could be so sure which botteghe these Buccheri came from.
⢠One large
amphora
, dated to the end of the seventh century BC, with graffiti decorations on the body of two animal friezes, separated by horizontal cordons (rib decoration). This
amphora
is attributable to the same master painter who decorated a similar
amphora
found (legally) in Cerveteri.
amphora
, dated to the end of the seventh century BC, with graffiti decorations on the body of two animal friezes, separated by horizontal cordons (rib decoration). This
amphora
is attributable to the same master painter who decorated a similar
amphora
found (legally) in Cerveteri.
⢠Etruscan imitation Ionic-and-Attic ceramics. Dating to the sixth and fifth centuries BC, the experts considered that all these came from the Vulci “botteghe.”
⢠A number of Etruscan stone sculptures and
stelae
were made of the local volcanic stone, known as
nefro
. In this case, not just the style but the geology proves the sculptures' origin.
stelae
were made of the local volcanic stone, known as
nefro
. In this case, not just the style but the geology proves the sculptures' origin.
⢠An eastern Greek goblet was “very similar” to one found in the Panatenaica Tomb at Vulci and almost identical to a fragment found in the Sanctuary of Gravisca at Porto di Tarquinia.
⢠Bronze and iron statues, ornaments, necklaces, and ringsâall found in Medici's warehouseâwere in a style “particularly associated” with Ascoli Piceno in the central Adriatic region (on the border between the central regions of Marche and Abruzzo).
⢠Ceramics of Greek production: As the three experts make clear, the Greek colonies of southern Italy and Sicily, together with Etruscan cities, were primary commercial destinations for vases made in Greeceâin Athens, Sparta, Euboea, and Corinth.
Amphorae
and perfume
flacons
in particular were traded. However, Etruria was obviously a special area for some reason, because only in Etruria “have objects of exceptional quality been found.” Scholars believe that these exceptional objects were sent as examples, as “commercial propaganda,” to show what various “botteghe” were capable of, to encourage international trade. This general picture is deduced from two types of evidence.
Amphorae
and perfume
flacons
in particular were traded. However, Etruria was obviously a special area for some reason, because only in Etruria “have objects of exceptional quality been found.” Scholars believe that these exceptional objects were sent as examples, as “commercial propaganda,” to show what various “botteghe” were capable of, to encourage international trade. This general picture is deduced from two types of evidence.
First, that the vast majority of museum-quality pieces of these Greek vases have been found in Italy. One example is a famous
olpe
, found at Veio and today in the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome. A second
example is the so-called Levy
oinochoe
(of Miletus production, from the ancient Greek colony of Miletus on the Ionian coast in modern-day Turkey), bought in Rome in the nineteenth century and today in the Louvre. Third, the so-called François
krater.
This was made in Athens but found in a tomb at Chiusi in Tuscany and is now in the Museum of Florence. It is a splendid monumental object, with several layers of scenesâwedding processions, battles, and so on.
olpe
, found at Veio and today in the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome. A second
example is the so-called Levy
oinochoe
(of Miletus production, from the ancient Greek colony of Miletus on the Ionian coast in modern-day Turkey), bought in Rome in the nineteenth century and today in the Louvre. Third, the so-called François
krater.
This was made in Athens but found in a tomb at Chiusi in Tuscany and is now in the Museum of Florence. It is a splendid monumental object, with several layers of scenesâwedding processions, battles, and so on.
The second type of evidence lies in the fact that it is also known that certain shapes of vase were produced in Greece but solely for export to Italy or Sicily. For example, the so-called Nolane vases have an Attic shape, but their most important excavation spots have been at Nola, northeast of Naples; Gela, a city founded in the eighth century BC on the southern coast of Sicily by ancient Greek colonists; Capua, situated north of Naples; and Vulci. In fact, statistical studies have shown that out of more than 800 objects known,
only one
has ever been found in Greece itself.
only one
has ever been found in Greece itself.
As the experts conclude, “One can without doubt say that the material of the Medici seizure includes an almost complete exemplification of the above-mentioned workshops.” In addition, there was in the Medici warehouse a third kind of evidence. In the Freeport, even on vases of a type that
could
have come from Greece, some had “hallmarks.” These were inscriptions scratched on the vases
after
their arrival at their destination, for some as yet unknown commercial reason. A seminal study by Alan W. Johnston,
Trademarks on Greek Vases
(1979), which looked at 3,500 vases of this type, concluded, “[U]p till now no vase found in continental Greece . . . bears hallmarks of this kind,” which are “basically limited to vases travelling toward the west . . . Etruria, Campania or Sicily.” Moreover, the hallmarks are scratched exclusively in the Etruscan alphabet. When you add in the fact that some of these vases were those found wrapped in Italian newspapers, the situation needs little further clarification. Yet more support for an Italian provenance comes from the fact that many of these vases were intact. This all-important detail is almost certainly due to the circumstance that in the Etruscan necropolises, there were entities known as room tombs, which didn't exist in ancient Greece. Almost all vases that have been found intact on legitimate digs have been found in room
tombs. Finally, in regard to this matter of ceramics of Greek production, an exhibition held at Florence in 1985 of the dowry (contents) of Tomb 170 of Bufolareccia in Cerveteri, there were four objects on display almost identical to objects found in the Geneva Freeport. For the record, these were a Laconian
krater
, a Laconian
amphora
(“Laconian” refers to material from Laconia, the region of Greece where Sparta was located), an Ionic drinking goblet, and an Attic
amphora
by the Gorgon Painter.
could
have come from Greece, some had “hallmarks.” These were inscriptions scratched on the vases
after
their arrival at their destination, for some as yet unknown commercial reason. A seminal study by Alan W. Johnston,
Trademarks on Greek Vases
(1979), which looked at 3,500 vases of this type, concluded, “[U]p till now no vase found in continental Greece . . . bears hallmarks of this kind,” which are “basically limited to vases travelling toward the west . . . Etruria, Campania or Sicily.” Moreover, the hallmarks are scratched exclusively in the Etruscan alphabet. When you add in the fact that some of these vases were those found wrapped in Italian newspapers, the situation needs little further clarification. Yet more support for an Italian provenance comes from the fact that many of these vases were intact. This all-important detail is almost certainly due to the circumstance that in the Etruscan necropolises, there were entities known as room tombs, which didn't exist in ancient Greece. Almost all vases that have been found intact on legitimate digs have been found in room
tombs. Finally, in regard to this matter of ceramics of Greek production, an exhibition held at Florence in 1985 of the dowry (contents) of Tomb 170 of Bufolareccia in Cerveteri, there were four objects on display almost identical to objects found in the Geneva Freeport. For the record, these were a Laconian
krater
, a Laconian
amphora
(“Laconian” refers to material from Laconia, the region of Greece where Sparta was located), an Ionic drinking goblet, and an Attic
amphora
by the Gorgon Painter.
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