WHAT IS THE RECEPTIOGATE?

ReceptioGate is the name given to a coordinated defamation campaign launched against cultural heritage scholar Prof. Carla Rossi after she reported cases involving stolen and dismembered medieval manuscripts and publicly exposed the commercial circulation of manuscript leaves removed from cultural property.

The documented chronology is clear. Among the cases investigated by Prof. Rossi were three illuminated leaves removed in 1979 from manuscript E.V.5 of the Biblioteca Universitaria di Torino and later offered for sale through Sotheby's London, as well as a leaf removed from the Antiphonary D of Castelfiorentino and subsequently marketed through the international antiquarian trade. The Sotheby's catalogue entries relating to the Turin leaves were prepared by Peter Kidd, while the Castelfiorentino leaf circulated accompanied by an expert opinion issued by Gaudenz Freuler. Both cases later became the subject of recovery actions by the Italian Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC).
 

This is not an academic controversy.

At its core, ReceptioGate concerns the circulation of leaves removed from stolen and dismembered manuscripts, the role of expert opinions and catalogue descriptions in legitimising their commercialisation, and the consequences faced by those who publicly document these practices.

The evidence presented on this site allows readers to examine the chronology for themselves: from the Turin manuscript E.V.5 and the Castelfiorentino Antiphonary, to the reports submitted to the Italian Carabinieri TPC, and finally to the defamation campaign that followed.

Kidd’s campaign sought to destroy Prof. Rossi’s academic credibility through false accusations, manipulated files, and defamatory narratives, all while protecting the market that thrives on tearing apart cultural heritage. His motives are clear — and so is his complicity. The campaign was silently supported by organisations that tolerate, and in some cases collaborate with, those who provide "expert opinions" on single leaves torn from stolen manuscripts — such as this example:
🔗 https://www.kollerauktionen.ch/fr/132590-0066-1174-MAESTRO-DELLE-EFFIGI-DOMENICAN-1174_70669.html
This site presents fully documented evidence about:

• The role of Peter Kidd in promoting the dismemberment of the De Roucy Hours
  🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/how-peter-kidd-promoted-the-destruction-of-the-de-roucy-hours-his-collaboration-with-manuscript-dis

• The fabrication of false accusations and manipulated files
  🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/peter-kidd-excised-leaves-and-the-illusion-of-provenance-research-2025-commentary

• The use of Kidd’s blog to slander Prof. Rossi and others
  🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/peter-kidd-a-documented-case-of-defamation-and-concealment-from-giovanni-mazzarelli-to-receptiog
  🔗 https://www.isfida.eu/post/peter-kidd-a-documented-case-of-defamation-and-concealment-from-giovanni-mazzarelli-to-receptiog

• The academic and legal response
  🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/the-receptiogate-affair-official-documents-academic-response-and-timeline-of-events
  🔗 https://www.isfida.eu/post/receptiogate-official-documents-publications-and-institutional-response
  🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/press-statements

🔍 Want to know more?
📚 Full timeline and legal documents:
🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/timeline
🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/faq
🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/the-receptiogate-affair-truth-defamation-and-the-struggle-against-manuscript-dismemberment
🔗 https://www.alta-formazione.it/post/receptiogate-spiegato-diffamazione-documenti-accuse-infondate-e-risposta-accademica
🧑‍🎓 Background on the institutions involved:
🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/actors-behind-the-defamation
🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/actors-behind-the-defamation/peter-kidd-medieval-manuscripts-provenance
🔗 https://www.receptiogate.info/actors-behind-the-defamation/societ%C3%A0-internazionale-di-storia-della-miniatura
🔗 https://www.oprom.eu/post/the-responsibility-of-the-società-internazionale-di-storia-della-miniatura-in-the-receptiogate-affai
✉️ Rebuttals, testimonies, and international support:
🔗 https://oprom.substack.com/p/documented-timeline-of-the-defamation
🔗 https://oprom.substack.com/p/facing-disinformation-with-knowledge
🔗 https://oprom.substack.com/p/all-official-sources-on-receptiogate
 
This is not an academic controversy.
This is the exposure of a profitable network that trades in cultural destruction — and silences those who speak up.