Professors Tamar Herzig (Tel Aviv University) and Marie Favereau (University of Paris Nanterre) have been awarded the prestigious Premio Internazionale Cherasco Storia in History for the Italian editions of their books last year.
Official Announcement by the Cherasco City Council
Professor Herzig’s book, titled “Storia di un ebreo convertito. Arte, criminalità e religione nell’Italia del Rinascimento” (Rome: Viella, 2023) focuses on the life and works of Salomone da Sessa. A most gifted and successful Jewish goldsmith who served, above all, the Este and Gonzaga courts (in Ferrara and Mantua, respectively) in the late 15th and the early 16th centuries, in 1491 Salomone was accused of sodomy. To save his life, Salomone was forced to convert to Christianity; in doing so, he adopted the Christian name of Ercole de’ Fedeli. Professor Herzig originally wrote her book on this remarkable artist and his dramatic life in English. Titled “A Convert’s Tale. Art, Crime, and Jewish Apostasy in Renaissance Italy” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019), Professor Herzig began her research for the book when she was a fellow at Villa I Tatti (the Florence-based Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies). The Italian translation of her award-winning book is by Stefano U. Baldassarri (Director, ISI Florence) and his wife Donatella Downey.
