, on September 27, 1810; d. Rome, 15 February., 1874) was an Italian Cardinal, Jesuit canonist and archaeologist.

Tarquini entered the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 on August 27, 1837. Prior to his entrance, Tarquini had published a thesis for his doctorate on canon law

Canon law

Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

: Institutionum juris canonici tabulae synopticae juxta ordinem habitum a Joanne Devote (Rome, 1835). As a professor, Tarquini held the chair of canon law at the Roman College, and he attracted notice by his explanations of sacred scripture at the Gesu. Besides his published works, he contributed many articles to reviews, notably to the Civilta Cattolica

La Civiltà Cattolica

La Civiltà Cattolica is a Rome based Italian biweekly magazine printed by the Jesuits. The bimonthly journal was founded in 1850 with papal funding by order of the Pope and readers have recognised it as representing contemporary Vatican opinion. It has been praised and highly regarded by readers...

. It is principally as a canonist that he achieved fame. His first work on the law of the Church to bring him into international celebrity was that on the Regium Placet, or Exequatur

Exequatur

An exequatur is a legal document issued by a sovereign authority allowing a right to be enforced in the authority's domain of competence. The word is a form of the Latin verb exequi, and means let it be executed in Latin.-International relations:...

, for Papal Bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

s (Rome, 1851), which was translated into German, Spanish, and French. This treatise has generally been published as an appendix to his main work on canon law: Juris ecclesiastici publici institutiones (Rome, 1862), which has gone through many editions. The work was translated into French (Brussels, 1868). Other works on canon law are his treatise on the French Concordat of 1801

Concordat of 1801

The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801. It solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and brought back most of its civil status....

 (Rome, 1871), and a disquisition on the Pauline privilege

Pauline privilege

The Pauline Privilege is a Christian concept drawn from the apostle Paul's instructions in theFirst Epistle to the Corinthians.-Origin:In Paul's epistle it states:...

 (published posthumously in 1888).

Though best known as a canonist, Tarquini was also an archaeologist of no mean repute, especially on matters relating to the ancient Etruscans. His earliest archaeological treatise is Breve commento di antiche iscrizioni appartenenti alla citta di Fermo (1847). He began the Etruscan series of his works specifically with Dichiarazione dell' epigrafe del lampadario di Cortona (1862), which was soon followed by a more general treatise: Dizzertazioni intorno ad alcuni monumenti etruschi (Rome, 1862). The Civilta Cattolica of 1857 and 1858 contains many of Tarquini's articles on Etruscan antiquities, the most noted being: Origini italiche e principalmente etruschi rivelate dei nomi geografici (Ser. 3, Vol. VI); I misteri della lingua etrusca (Vol. VIII); Iscrizioni etrusche in monumenti autofoni (Vol. IX); Di vasi etruschi divinatorii (Vol. X); Iscrizione etrusca di Perugia (Vol. XI); and Sopra il semitismo della lingua etrusca (Ser. 4, Vol. VII). He also wrote an Etruscan grammar and a dictionary of the Etruscan language. Other archaeological treatises are Della iscrizione della cattedra Alessandrina di San Marco (1868), and De L'origine des pheniciens et leur identite avec les Pasteurs qui envahirent l'Egypte (1870). Tarquini was a member of the Roman Pontifical Academy of Archaeology

Pontifical Academy of Archaeology

The Pontifical Academy of Archaeology is an academic honorary society established in Rome by the Catholic Church for the advancement of Christian archaeological study...

 and of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Science of Lucca

Lucca

Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...

. He was also president of the historical and archaeological sections of the Accademia dei' Quiriti. He was raised to the cardinalate by Pius IX with the diaconal title of St. Nicholas at the Tullian Prison on 22 Dec., 1873, only a few months before his death.