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"Larvatus prodeo," announced René Descartes at the beginning of the seventeenth century: "I come forward, masked." Deliberately disguising or silencing their most intimate thoughts and emotions, many early modern Europeans besides Descartes-princes, courtiers, aristocrats and commoners alike-chose to practice the shadowy art of dissimulation. For men and women who could not risk revealing their inner lives to those around them, this art of incommunicativity was crucial, both personally and politically. Many writers and intellectuals sought to explain, expose, justify, or condemn the emergence of this new culture of secrecy, and from Naples to the Netherlands controversy swirled for two centuries around the powers and limits of dissimulation, whether in affairs of state or affairs of the heart. This beautifully written work crisscrosses Europe, with a special focus on Italy, to explore attitudes toward the art of dissimulation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Discussing many canonical and lesser-known works, Jon R. Snyder examines the treatment of dissimulation in early modern treatises and writings on the court, civility, moral philosophy, political theory, and in the visual arts.

Secrecy --- Truthfulness and falsehood --- Interpersonal communication --- Social aspects --- History. --- Italy --- Europe --- Social life and customs --- Social life and customs. --- 16th century. --- 17th century. --- affairs. --- aristocracy. --- canonical writing. --- commoners. --- communication. --- controversy. --- court writings. --- culture of secrecy. --- disguise. --- dishonesty. --- dissimulation. --- early modern europe. --- europe. --- inner lives. --- italy. --- masking emotions. --- modern history. --- moral philosophy. --- naples. --- netherlands. --- philosophers. --- political silence. --- political theory. --- private lives. --- rene descartes. --- secrecy. --- secret thoughts. --- textbooks. --- treatises. --- visual arts. --- writers and intellectuals.

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Charged by the Venetian Inquisition with the conscious and cynical feigning of holiness, Cecelia Ferrazzi (1609-1684) requested and obtained the unprecedented opportunity to defend herself through a presentation of her life story. Ferrazzi's unique inquisitorial autobiography and the transcripts of her preceding testimony, expertly transcribed and eloquently translated into English, allow us to enter an unfamiliar sector of the past and hear 'another voice'-that of a humble Venetian woman who had extraordinary experiences and exhibited exceptional courage. Born in 1609 into an artisan family, Cecilia Ferrazzi wanted to become a nun. When her parents' death in the plague of 1630 made it financially impossible for her to enter the convent, she refused to marry and as a single laywoman set out in pursuit of holiness. Eventually she improvised a vocation: running houses of refuge for "girls in danger," young women at risk of being lured into prostitution. Ferrazzi's frequent visions persuaded her, as well as some clerics and acquaintances among the Venetian elite, that she was on the right track. The socially valuable service she was providing enhanced this impresssion. Not everyone, however, was convinced that she was a genuine favorite of God. In 1664 she was denounced to the Inquisition. The Inquisition convicted Ferrazzi of the pretense of sanctity. Yet her autobiographical act permits us to see in vivid detail both the opportunities and the obstacles presented to seventeenth-century women.

Catholics --- Women --- Inquisition --- Holy Office --- Autos-da-fé --- Human females --- Wimmin --- Woman --- Womon --- Womyn --- Females --- Human beings --- Femininity --- Christians --- History --- Ferrazzi, Cecilia, --- Venice (Italy) --- Bneci (Italy) --- Mleci (Italy) --- Mleti (Italy) --- Venecia (Italy) --- Venezia (Italy) --- Venedig (Italy) --- Venetik (Italy) --- Venetsii︠a︡ (Italy) --- Velence (Italy) --- Benetia (Italy) --- Venetia (Italy) --- Wenecja (Italy) --- Venise (Italy) --- Fenice (Italy) --- Benetke (Italy) --- Vinegia (Italy) --- Burano (Italy) --- Murano (Italy) --- Venice (Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom) --- 235.3 FERRAZZI, CECILIA --- 27 <45 VENEZIA> --- Biography --- Sources --- Hagiografie--FERRAZZI, CECILIA --- Kerkgeschiedenis--Italië--VENEZIA --- Biography. --- Venet︠s︡ii︠a︡ (Italy) --- autobiography, autobiographical, biography, venetian inquisition, holiness, holy, saint, catholic saints, catholicism, christianity, christians, religion, faith, testimony, testimonial, translated work, translation, courage, bravery, nun, devotion, convent, vocation, prostitution, sanctity, 17th century, italy, venice, europe, history, historical, interrogation, persecution, counter-reformation, refuge, mystic, gender, dissimulation, imprisonment.