Scarcia, Gianroberto

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Rome, law degree, 1955.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Eurasian Studies, University of Venice, Venice, Italy; fax: 041-524-1847. E-mail—gscarcia@unive.it.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, archaeologist, lecturer, translator, and educator. University of Teheran, Teheran, Iran, reader in Italian, 1956-58; Oriental Institute of Naples, Naples, Italy, assistant to the chair, 1959-63; University of Rome, Rome, Italy, Islamic studies department, assistant to the chair, 1963-67; University of Venice, Venice, Italy, professor of Iranian language and literature, 1967-1982, dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature, 1973-76, professor of history of religion in Iran and Central Asia, 1983-1998, professor of the history of Arabic-Islamic civilization, 1998—, lecturer in Islamic history, law, and art and dean of the department of Eurasian studies.

WRITINGS:

Sifat-nama-ya Darvis Muhammad Han-i Gazi: Cronaca Di Una Crociata Musulmana Contro I Kafiri Di Lagman Nell'anno 1582: Manoscritto Persiano-kabuli, Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Rome, Italy), 1965.

(With Daniela Bredi) Ex Libris Franco Coslovi, Poligrafo (Venice, Italy), 1966.

Storia Della Letteratura Turca, Fabbri (Milan, Italy), 1971.

La Poesia Persiana Nell'ultimo Ventennio, Accademia nazionale dei Lincei (Rome, Italy), 1974.

Le Letterature Odierne Dei Popoli Musulmani: Conferenze, Roma, 4-10 Aprile 1973, Accademia nazionale dei Lincei (Rome, Italy), 1974.

Golsciane Raz, All'insegna del pesce d'oro (Milan, Italy), 1976.

(With S. Curzu and L.S. Loi) Tehran-Kabul: A Tale of Two Cities, Scalia (Rome, Italy), 1980.

Georgica II: Materiali Sulla Georgia Occidentale, Il Cavaliere azzurro (Bologna, Italy), 1988.

Un Destino in Versi: Lirici Curdi, Vecchio Faggio (Chieti, Italy), 1990.

(With Giovanni Curatola) Le Arti Nell'Islam, La Nuova Italia Scientifica (Rome, Italy), 1990.

(With Sergio Molinari) Lo Spirito Del Testo: Saggi E Lezioni Di Letteratura Russa, 1965-1989, Il cardo (Venice, Italy), 1993.

(Translator, with Francesca Rambaldi) Mahmud Darwish, Meno Rose, Cafoscarina (Venice, Italy), 1997.

(Translator, with Alessandra Trevisan, and author of preface) Timur Zulfikarov, La Leggenda Di Ivan Il Terribile, Cafoscarina (Venice, Italy), 1997.

(Editor, with Giampiero Bellingeri and Cristina Manfredi) Aleksandr Volkov, Motivi Uzbechi, Poligrafo (Venice, Italy), 1998.

Storia Di Josaphat Senza Barlaam, Rubbettino (Catanzaro, Italy), 1998.

Bipolarita Imperfette, Cafoscarina (Venice, Italy), 1999.

(With Daniele Guizzo) Il Libro Del Falcone, Cafoscarina (Venice, Italy), 2001.

Ripensare La Creazione: Riflessioni Autobiografiche Sulla Teoria Del Diritto Musulmano, Jouvence (Rome, Italy), 2001.

Scirin: La Regina Dei Magi, Jaca (Milan, Italy), 2004.

(With Giovanni Curatola) Iran: L'arte Persiana, Jaca (Milan, Italy), 2004.

(Editor, with Matteo Campareti and Paola Raffetta) Eran Ud Aneran: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, Cafoscarina (Venice, Italy), 2006.

(With Giovanni Curatola) The Art and Architecture of Persia, Abbeville Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to books, including the Encyclopedia of Islam, Biographical Dictionary of Italians, The Paradox of Monotheism, and History of Literature of the East. Contributor to periodicals, including Annali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli, Form of Words, and Muse.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer, art historian, and educator Gianroberto Scarcia is a prolific author of scholarly works on the cultural history of the Arabic and Islamic nations. An active scholar and researcher since the mid-1950s, Scarcia has written hundreds of articles and book chapters in English and Italian. He is a professor of Arab-Islamic cultural history at the University of Venice in Italy, where he serves as dean of the Department of Eurasian Studies, supervises the Corsican Degree in Oriental Languages and Literature, and lectures in Islamic history, law, and art. As a translator, Scarcia is involved in translating the work of such writers as Hafez Ghazal and Mandel'stam.

In The Art and Architecture of Persia, written with Giovanni Curatola, Scarcia looks carefully at the buildings and architecture of Persia, now known as Iran, analyzing the history and significance of the diverse buildings and structures still extant throughout the country. In addition, the authors also cover other notable areas of Persian art, including manuscripts, miniature paintings, metallurgy, memorials, pottery, temples, mosques, and the well-known and widespread art of Persian rugs and carpets. Beginning in 550 B.C. with the Achaemenids and the Sasanian, the dominant early influences on Persian art, Curatola and Scarcia consider art in both pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Persia, tracing its multifaceted influences throughout the Middle East and into Central Asia. They look at common themes found among different varieties of Persian art, and identify numerous sources of influence that have had an effect on Persian art and architecture from ancient times to the present. The coffee-table book includes relevant maps and numerous full-color photographs and illustrations that provide pictorial evidence of the development, melding, and crossing of artistic genres throughout Persia's lengthy history.

The book's coverage of architecture is "strong," and the authors "devote one whole chapter to manuscripts and the miniature paintings featured in them and another to the extraordinary art of Persian carpets," observed Anne Marie Lane in a Library Journal review. An Internet Bookwatch reviewer called The Art and Architecture of Persia a "stunningly beautiful tour of an incredible complex and extended culture." A California Bookwatch contributor commented favorably on the book's "astoundingly well detailed, unparalleled coverage" of diverse art and structures throughout Persia. The Internet Bookwatch reviewer named the book a "comprehensive and superbly presented introduction" to Persian art through the ages. The California Bookwatch critic found the book to be a "fitting introduction and refreshment course" on the wide-ranging subject.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

California Bookwatch, July, 2007, review of The Art and Architecture of Persia.

Internet Bookwatch, July, 2007, review of The Art and Architecture of Persia.

Library Journal, June 15, 2007, Anne Marie Lane, review of The Art and Architecture of Persia, p. 64.

Slavonic and East European Review, January, 1990, Donald Rayfield, review of Georgica II: Materiali Sulla Georgia Occidentale, p. 137.

ONLINE

Abbeville Press Web site,http://www.abbeville.com/ (January 28, 2008), biography of Gianroberto Scarcia.

University of Venice Department of Eurasian Studies Web site,http://venus.unive.it/eurasia/ (January 28, 2008), curriculum vitae of Gianroberto Scarcia.