SCAMBI CULTURALI ALLE RADICI DELL’UMANESIMO

The foundation of “Magna Greciae” colonies in Southern Italy has been a fundamental element of connection between East and West, allowing to Ancient Greece to reach high levels in the social, cultural and economic field, with libraries and study centers that have formed philosophers, writers, doctors, leading artists. Calabria in particular, has played a strategic role in the Mediterranean Sea for the development of European Western culture and of humanism. Calabria was the only Mediterranean region to have welcomed forcenturies, and often at the same time, the two major cultures: the Eastern and the Western. In Calabria, people spoke ancient Greek language in modern age and until the last century there were areas where the Greek language was the only spoken language (Area Grecofona of Calabria). This circumstance explains the critical role the region had in the Middle Ages: libraries, study centers, scriptoria allowed the Latin translation and dissemination of the works of Plato and Aristotle, these two philosophers were at the basis of medieval scholasticism and, as a result, at the basis of the development of Humanism.DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.09.0

I turisti del passato in Calabria: qui "si patisce e si gode"

A particular interpretative key of the characteristics of Calabria in the eyes of travellers of the past revolves around the expression «we suffer and enjoy», reported by the Abbot Giovanni Battista Pacichelli in his famous volume Il regno di Napoli in prospettiva, published in Naples in 1703 after a methodical expedition completed about ten years earlier.From a story by Leandro Alberti, Bologna, 1525, in the tales of ancient "tourists", the suffered hardships due to difficult internal road connections - which forced travellers to favour sea travel - were offset by the enjoyment of the exceptional nature of the landscapes, which often included villages. It was only from the travel chronicles of Henry Swinburne, who arrived in Calabria in 1777, that the parameters of judgment on the one hand opened to include the features of popular folklore, while on the other, they focused more on the illuminist origins of the feudal system and the monopolies (of the King and feudal Lords). Tourists interpreted the "different" behaviour of the inhabitants of the region, not as a sign of uncultured, but of a different culture.¬However, in the Voyage Pittoresque, the texts written by the abbot of Saint-Non, based on the diary of Dominique Vivant Denon - head of his expedition who twice travelled to Calabria, in the spring and autumn of 1778 - reflect the essence of the landscape of the region as the result of a miraculous balance between nature and the work of man.Una particolare chiave interpretativa dei caratteri del territorio calabrese agli occhi dei viaggiatori del passato ruota intorno all’espressione «si patisce e si gode», a esso riferita dall’abate Giovanni Battista Pacichelli nella sua celebre opera Il regno di Napoli in prospettiva, pubblicata a Napoli nel 1703 sulla scorta di una sistematica ricognizione compiuta circa dieci anni prima. Infatti, a partire dal bolognese Leandro Alberti, nel 1525, nei racconti degli antichi “turisti” i disagi patiti a causa dei difficili collegamenti interni, che costringevano a privilegiare quelli via mare erano compensati dal godimento dell’eccezionalità delle risorse paesaggistiche, di cui spesso i centri abitati erano spesso considerati parte integrante. Solo a partire dalle cronache di viaggio di Henry Swinburne, giunto in Calabria nel 1777, i parametri di giudizio da una parte si aprirono a una precoce attenzione al folklore popolare, dall’altra assunsero connotati critici di matrice illuministica verso il sistema feudale e i monopoli (del re e dei feudatari), interpretando il comportamento “diverso” degli abitanti della regione, non come segno d’incultura, ma di una cultura diversa. Mentre nel Voyage pittoresque, i testi scritti dall’abate Saint-Non sulla base del diario di Dominique Vivant Denon capo della sua spedizione transitata in Calabria due volte, nella primavera e nell’autunno del 1778, riflettono l’essenza del paesaggio della regione come il frutto di un miracoloso equilibrio tra la natura e l’opera dell’uomo

Le Voyage d’Italie (1836-1837) di Viollet-le-Duc come esperienza fondamentale per la sua formazione da architetto

The essay analyses the influence of Viollet-le-Duc’s travels to Italy in his early training. From an analysis of his letters from Italy, and drawings prepared during the trip, many aspects of his personality come to light: interest in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance architecture; admiration for both the wild and sublime landscape of Mount Etna and the picturesque aspect of little villages in Central Italy. He appreciates the variety of Italian art which harmoniously gathers together languages from different ages. Hence, the trip was an important experience for his future as an architect, not only for the appreciation of different styles, building materials and constructive techniques of Italian historical buildings – which were to be a significant background in his upcoming career as a restorer – but also for the reason that, from this phase of early training, a fundamental aspect of his activities as architect and theorist was to be defined: the experience of the past as a source of knowledge for the future.Il saggio analizza l’influenza del viaggio in Italia nella formazione del giovane Viollet-le-Duc. Dallo studio della corrispondenza dall’Italia e dei disegni prodotti durante il viaggio, emerge l’interesse per l’architettura, sia antica che medievale, per i monumenti rinascimentali, per i caratteristici abitati dell’Italia centrale, per i paesaggi selvaggi e sublimi dell’Etna e per quelli pittoreschi dei piccoli borghi dell’Italia centrale. Egli apprezza la varietà dell’arte italiana che raccoglie in insiemi di grandi armonia linguaggi di epoche diverse. Il viaggio in Italia è dunque un’esperienza fondamentale per il suo futuro d’architetto, non solo per l’esperienza di stili, materiali, tecniche costruttive degli edifici del passato, che saranno un bagaglio importante nella sua attività di restauratore, ma anche perché già in questa fase di prima formazione, Viollet definirà un tratto fondamentale della sua attività di architetto e teorico: l’esperienza del passato come fonte di apprendimento per il futuro.

Le Voyage d’Italie (1836-1837) of Viollet-le-Duc as a basic experience in his training as architect

The essay analyses the influence of Viollet-le-Duc’s travels to Italy in his early training. From an analysis of his letters from Italy, and drawings prepared during the trip, many aspects of his personality come to light: interest in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance architecture; admiration for both the wild and sublime landscape of Mount Etna and the picturesque aspect of little villages in Central Italy. He appreciates the variety of Italian art which harmoniously gathers together languages from different ages. Hence, the trip was an important experience for his future as an architect, not only for the appreciation of different styles, building materials and constructive techniques of Italian historical buildings – which were to be a significant background in his upcoming career as a restorer – but also for the reason that, from this phase of early training, a fundamental aspect of his activities as architect and theorist was to be defined: the experience of the past as a source of knowledge for the future