In my quality of scientific director of the Medici Project (1,2) I
feel bound to comment this article, which is important for various
historical aspects.
In brief, the key of the entire study seems to be “a few beard hairs
with one small fragment of skin tissue still attached”, which made it
possible to establish a “high degree of similarity with the DNA” of three
different pieces of “dry, thick, and crumbly material … collected within
the broken terracotta jars” in the crypt of the church of Santa Maria a
Bonistallo near Florence. On this basis, the Authors claim that it is
“highly probable that these soft tissues were among those extracted from
the body of Francesco I at autopsy”.
These results are by no means possible, simply because Francesco I
appeared, at re-exhumation carried out in December 2004, totally
skeletonised and disarticulated in the small zinc coffin used to re-bury
the skeletal remains of the Grand Duke after exhumation in the 40’s, and
the skull showed no traces of soft tissues, skin or beard!
Moreover, the Authors do not provide any information about the method
adopted for identification of the ancient DNA (microsatellites,
mithocondrial DNA?) or about the molecular size of the DNA fragments, nor
do they explain whether the DNA extractions were performed in a laboratory
designed for ancient DNA manipulation (where modern human samples are not
processed!). On the contrary the published data is consistent with
contamination by modern DNA and, consequently, the hypothesis of arsenic
poisoning is also to be rejected.
Furthermore, owing to the very frequent use of arsenical mixtures in
embalming and visceral processing by the contemporary surgeons (3), it is
impossible to establish whether the high arsenic concentrations in the
specimens were obtained in vita or after death.
Finally, some “minor” but not less important questions should be
asked regarding the findings in the crypt of the church of Santa Maria a
Bonistallo: is there an archaeological report on the excavations and on
the stratigraphic position of the “broken terracotta jars”? Were the
fragments examined – and dated – by a post-medieval archaeologist? This
information is very important because the two small crucifixes, typical
of 18th and 19th century, are clearly more recent than October 1587, date
of the alleged murder.
In conclusion, the article “The mysterious death of Francesco I de’
Medici and Bianca Cappello: an arsenic murder?” quite appropriately
finishes with a question mark!
References: 1. Fornaciari G, Brier B, Fornaciari A. Secrets of the
Medici. Archaeology, 2005; 58: 16-19. 2. Fornaciari G, Vitiello A,
Giusiani S, Giuffra V, Fornaciari A. The "Medici Project": First Results
of the Explorations of the Medici Tombs in Florence (15th-18th centuries),
Paleopath Newsl, 2006; 133:15-22. 3. Marinozzi S, Fornaciari G. Le mummie
e l'arte medica: per una storia dell’imbalsamazione artificiale dei corpi
umani nell’evo Moderno. Roma: Medicina nei Secoli, Supplemento, n.1, 2005.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
29 December 2006
Gino Fornaciari
Professor of History of Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
Division of Paleopathology, Via Roma 57, 56126 Pisa Italy
Rapid Response:
The mystery of beard hairs
In my quality of scientific director of the Medici Project (1,2) I
feel bound to comment this article, which is important for various
historical aspects.
In brief, the key of the entire study seems to be “a few beard hairs
with one small fragment of skin tissue still attached”, which made it
possible to establish a “high degree of similarity with the DNA” of three
different pieces of “dry, thick, and crumbly material … collected within
the broken terracotta jars” in the crypt of the church of Santa Maria a
Bonistallo near Florence. On this basis, the Authors claim that it is
“highly probable that these soft tissues were among those extracted from
the body of Francesco I at autopsy”.
These results are by no means possible, simply because Francesco I
appeared, at re-exhumation carried out in December 2004, totally
skeletonised and disarticulated in the small zinc coffin used to re-bury
the skeletal remains of the Grand Duke after exhumation in the 40’s, and
the skull showed no traces of soft tissues, skin or beard!
Moreover, the Authors do not provide any information about the method
adopted for identification of the ancient DNA (microsatellites,
mithocondrial DNA?) or about the molecular size of the DNA fragments, nor
do they explain whether the DNA extractions were performed in a laboratory
designed for ancient DNA manipulation (where modern human samples are not
processed!). On the contrary the published data is consistent with
contamination by modern DNA and, consequently, the hypothesis of arsenic
poisoning is also to be rejected.
Furthermore, owing to the very frequent use of arsenical mixtures in
embalming and visceral processing by the contemporary surgeons (3), it is
impossible to establish whether the high arsenic concentrations in the
specimens were obtained in vita or after death.
Finally, some “minor” but not less important questions should be
asked regarding the findings in the crypt of the church of Santa Maria a
Bonistallo: is there an archaeological report on the excavations and on
the stratigraphic position of the “broken terracotta jars”? Were the
fragments examined – and dated – by a post-medieval archaeologist? This
information is very important because the two small crucifixes, typical
of 18th and 19th century, are clearly more recent than October 1587, date
of the alleged murder.
In conclusion, the article “The mysterious death of Francesco I de’
Medici and Bianca Cappello: an arsenic murder?” quite appropriately
finishes with a question mark!
References: 1. Fornaciari G, Brier B, Fornaciari A. Secrets of the
Medici. Archaeology, 2005; 58: 16-19. 2. Fornaciari G, Vitiello A,
Giusiani S, Giuffra V, Fornaciari A. The "Medici Project": First Results
of the Explorations of the Medici Tombs in Florence (15th-18th centuries),
Paleopath Newsl, 2006; 133:15-22. 3. Marinozzi S, Fornaciari G. Le mummie
e l'arte medica: per una storia dell’imbalsamazione artificiale dei corpi
umani nell’evo Moderno. Roma: Medicina nei Secoli, Supplemento, n.1, 2005.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests