A forger’s cabinet at religious and familial crossroads

This paper examines the case of Juan de Flores and his cabinet of falsified antiquities in eighteenth-century Granada. It explores the role of his collection as an intended source for the writing of history, familial social advancement and, ultimately, a judicial process. Flores actively promoted his forgeries, documenting them through notarial records and engraved reproductions, which paradoxically fuelled both curiosity and scepticism. The study traces how leading intellectuals, including Francisco Pérez Bayer and José de Hermosilla, engaged with these artefacts, oscillating between intrigue and rejection. Despite official condemnation and the public destruction of the collection in 1777, elements of Flores’s cabinet persisted in circulation. By contextualizing Flores’s enterprise within broader debates on historical authenticity, noble lineage and the role of antiquarianism, this study reveals the complexities of forging history in the ­Enlightenment era.