«Pretiosum pannum cum Dei et beate Marie Virginis adiutorio Vulterras deferret». Un furto sacro nella Volterra dei guelfi e dei ghibellini

The essay analyzes the theft of a relic happened in 1277: in the city of Saint John of Acre, Arnaldo from Volterra stole a strip of the garment that was said to belong to the Virgin, and subsequently brought it to the bishop of the Tuscan city. Studying the production, the tradition and the fruition of the text which tells the story allows to shed light on the political context of Volterra between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.