ReceptioGate: Final Documentation Now Public
- OProM
- 18 juin 2025
- 2 min de lecture
ReceptioGate is a case of transnational criminal activity connected to the black market in cultural property, in which allegations of plagiarism were used as a weapon of mass distraction. It concerns a well-established system operating on three interconnected levels.
1. The Original Crime: Dismemberment and Laundering
At the centre of the case are real historical artefacts, such as the leaves stolen in 1979 from Turin manuscript E.V.5 and the leaf removed from the Antiphonary of Castelfiorentino.
These manuscripts were mutilated, constituting a serious crime against cultural heritage.
In order to be sold legally on the international market for substantial sums, they required a process of "laundering".
This laundering was carried out through auction catalogue descriptions (such as the Sotheby's entries prepared by Peter Kidd) or expert assessments signed by accommodating academics (such as Gaudenz Freuler of the University of Zurich). By omitting illicit provenance, the auction catalogue effectively became a vehicle for laundering cultural property.
2. The Whistleblowing and the System's Response
ReceptioGate emerged only after Professor Carla Rossi and the RECEPTIO research centre chose to act as whistleblowers by submitting a formal and detailed complaint to the Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) in December 2022. Their actions contributed to the seizure of cultural objects and disrupted a profitable chain of transactions.
The reaction from the antiquarian network was immediate. The plagiarism allegations published by Peter Kidd on 23 December 2022, only days after the complaint, were not a spontaneous scholarly objection. They constituted a targeted act of retaliation.
The objective was to destroy the credibility of the witness, Professor Rossi, thereby undermining her complaint and protecting the network of dealers and academics connected to the trade.
3. Institutional Complicity
The term "Gate" is appropriate precisely because institutions became involved. The University of Zurich and the Swiss National Science Foundation initially endorsed the narrative promoted by the antiquarian network, isolating Rossi, withdrawing funding, and treating the matter primarily as an issue of academic conduct.
A peer-reviewed book by Jordi Puig and documentation of the so-called ReceptioGate affair is now publicly accessible via Zenodo, with DOI:
This publication, released by the OProM (Observatory for the Protection of Cultural Research Against Media Attacks), provides an independent, evidence-based reconstruction of the campaign of defamation and institutional harassment launched against Prof. Carla Rossi and the RECEPTIO Research Centre between 2022 and 2024.
The post includes the full timeline, original sources, manipulated files, and links to official websites, including:
The Zenodo publication also highlights the academic and legal implications of the scandal, demonstrating how false claims, blog attacks, and institutional silence were weaponised to suppress critical research on manuscript dismemberment and art market abuses.
We invite scholars, journalists, and institutions to consult this open-access documentation and to verify each statement through the direct links provided.
