Author Description

The exhibition - and this catalog - want to give an example of the testimonies collected in the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which - in addition to the exceptional value and historical interest - often retain a character of considerable aesthetic value. It is therefore a rare opportunity to see documents that are the precise testimony of some crucial stages in our history. (from the presentation by Marco Pizzo) Presenting, first in an exhibition and now in a catalog, a selection of documents from the Archives of the Roman Inquisition, which arouses real interest and not just morbid curiosity in today's viewer, was an exciting and at the same time delicate task. In fact, since every presentation implies, by its nature, the offer of an image of the subject presented, the challenge was to give an idea of the Holy Office that was not stereotypical, that is, modeled on the prejudices of one or the other. part. It is therefore that we wanted to start from the most recent archival and historiographic research activity concerning the Institution, carried out in the last ten years, to find the right point of view from which to set up an image that reflects as much as possible, beyond the usual clichés, what the work of the Holy Office has been, its reflection and influence in the societies with which it has had to interact over the centuries. (from the preface by Alejandro Cifres)