The Witch's Mouth.
By Sacha Naspini.
By Sacha Naspini.
How many museum treasures began their journey with someone digging illegally beneath the Tuscan soil?
The Witch's Mouth takes us into the hidden world of Etruscan antiquities, where archaeological discoveries aren't necessarily made by academics with careful excavation plans. Instead, valuable pieces of history are secretly unearthed, smuggled out of Italy and eventually find their way into prestigious collections thousands of miles away.
At the centre of the story is Bardo, a highly successful tomb raider who has spent years building both a reputation and a criminal network around Tuscany's buried past. He knows where to search, how to recognise something valuable and, crucially, how to get it into the hands of people willing to pay.
It's a business built as much upon relationships and reputation as the artefacts themselves, which becomes particularly important when Bardo's son Giovanni attempts to follow him.
Giovanni might inherit his father's operation, but he doesn't inherit the qualities that allowed Bardo to control it. With competitors recognising an opportunity, what had once been a lucrative family enterprise becomes increasingly dangerous.
I think the historical setting sounds fascinating. Tuscany in the 1970s isn't simply a beautiful backdrop here; beneath those familiar landscapes is an entirely different world involving grave robbers, dealers, collectors and international buyers.
There's something particularly intriguing about following an ancient object from the ground where it has remained hidden for centuries through an illegal network capable of transporting it all the way to America. It raises uncomfortable questions about provenance and how objects displayed within respected institutions may actually have reached them.
Alongside that larger exploration of the antiquities trade is a family story about inheritance, expectation and what happens when one generation hands its legacy to another that isn't necessarily equipped to carry it.
The conflict between rival groups adds another dimension, transforming archaeological theft into a territorial battle involving power, betrayal and revenge. It's certainly a side of the art world I'm interested in discovering more about.
The Witch's Mouth promises an unusual combination of historical fiction, organised crime and family drama, moving between rural Tuscany and the international art market while exploring the considerably less respectable histories that can hide behind beautiful objects.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this one takes me. Thank you so much to Daniela and the team at Europa Editions for sending me a copy as part of their new catalogue! The book is out now and available to purchase.
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