Vittone under the Looking Glass. An Introduction

Abstract

The eleven texts gathered in this special collection are characterized by a certain diversity. They are, indeed, based on different methods of historical analysis rooted in the various professional paths of their authors (architectural history, the history of art, medieval and early modern history, musicology…). However, one goal is common and has guided the selection: Archistor readers are offered detailed insights on specific aspects of Bernardo Vittone’s work and professional career. By choosing to cast a closer look on specific events, texts and documents, new elements have emerged both from little known episodes in the architects’ career, and from scenarios that were previousy considered as sufficiently investigated. Among the topics that are discussed, are the forbidden books hidden in the inventory of Vittone’s library, the complex web of visual references incorporated in the Istruzioni’s illustrations, the new coordinates to be assigned to Vittone’s education, Vittone’s musical competences, and the sequence of events that explain the dispersion of his graphic legacy in different archival collections. A final essay provides a useful synthesis and an assessment of critical literature. Thanks to these new insights, some of which escape narrow definitions of architectural history, our assessment of Vittone’s role in eighteenth-century Italy, 250 years since his death in 1770, becomes more complex and, hopefully, more contradictory.