Ennio Quirino Visconti
Encyclopedia
Ennio Quirino Visconti (November 1, 1751 – February 7, 1818) was an Italian antiquarian
and art historian, papal Prefect of Antiquities, and the leading expert of his day in the field of ancient Roman sculpture.
Born in Rome
, he was the son of Giovanni Battista Antonio Visconti (1722–1784), the curator of Clement XIV
, who reorganised and restored the papal collection of antiquities, as the Museo Pio-Clementina
. Appointed by Pope Pius VI
to succeed his father in the position, the brilliant and precocious Visconti took up his father's position as conservator of the Capitoline Museums
in Rome
in 1787; he assisted his father in producing the first volume of the Museo Pio-Clementino (1782) and produced the six remaining volumes himself, completing the last in 1807; this catalogue of the Roman sculpture and antiquities in the Vatican collections, published in the course of many years, "made an impact on archaeological studies second only to that of Winckelmann
." He also published the antiquities collected in Greece by Sir Richard Worsley in Museum Worsleyanum (1794) and the sculptures in the Villa Borghese
, (1796).
In 1798, he became one of five consuls of the short-lived Roman Republic
. With the restoration of papal control in Rome he had to emigrate to Paris, where his presence was most welcome: "this event we considered as one of the happiest results of our victories", wrote the antiquary Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison
. At the end of 1799 he became curator
of antiquities of the Musée Napoleon housed in the Louvre
, many of which were familiar to him as booty removed under the stipulations of the Treaty of Tolentino
(1796); his descriptions were published by Robillard-Perronville in Le Musée français; In 1803 he was made professor of archaeology at the Institut de France
. In Paris he published a series of portraits of famous men of Antiquity: Iconographie Grecque, 3 vols. 1808, and a first volume of Iconographie Romaine, 1818. At his death, extended obituaries were published by Quatremère de Quincy
and others.
When Parliamentary debates were mooting the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles
for the British nation, Visconti was among the scholars asked to offer statements of their cultural value; his memoir was translated into English and published.
Visconti was succeeded as curator of antiquities at the Louvre by the comte de Clarac
.
Though Visconti was firmly grounded in the antiquarian
traditions of connoisseurship, which rated associative values high, in portraits and assumed portraits of the great—both philosopohers and emperors— and though he concentrated on disentangling the iconography
of the sculptures and reliefs he was describing, Visconti is also a liminal figure at the beginnings of modern art history, as when, Haskell and Penny note, he concedes that he has perhaps overestimated the beauty of a statue in his delight at recognising in it the portrait of Phocion
. His sense of loyalty to the sculpture he had grown up with induced him to see in the best of these copies of classical Greek and Hellenistic originals, such as the Apollo Belvedere
and the Laocoön
, "perfected imitations" made for Roman collectors of taste, and that the traditions of ancient sculpture were a cumulative history of improvements, rather as Virgil
, it was felt, refined and improved upon Homer
.
His son, Pietro Ercole Visconti, edited Versi di Ennio Quirino Visconti, raccolti per cura di Pietro Visconti
His son Louis Visconti became a noted architect in France.
His brother, Filippo Aurelio Visconti (died 1830) was also a classical scholar, who published the Museo Chiaramonti, a successor to the Museo Pio-Clementino.
These five works were reissued, with emendations, in Milan, 1827–37, some under the title Opere varie italiane e francesi edited by Giovanni Labus.
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
and art historian, papal Prefect of Antiquities, and the leading expert of his day in the field of ancient Roman sculpture.
Born in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he was the son of Giovanni Battista Antonio Visconti (1722–1784), the curator of Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV , born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 1769 to 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals.-Early life:...
, who reorganised and restored the papal collection of antiquities, as the Museo Pio-Clementina
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
. Appointed by Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
to succeed his father in the position, the brilliant and precocious Visconti took up his father's position as conservator of the Capitoline Museums
Capitoline Museums
The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The museums are contained in three palazzi surrounding a central trapezoidal piazza in a plan conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 and executed over...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1787; he assisted his father in producing the first volume of the Museo Pio-Clementino (1782) and produced the six remaining volumes himself, completing the last in 1807; this catalogue of the Roman sculpture and antiquities in the Vatican collections, published in the course of many years, "made an impact on archaeological studies second only to that of Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art...
." He also published the antiquities collected in Greece by Sir Richard Worsley in Museum Worsleyanum (1794) and the sculptures in the Villa Borghese
Villa Borghese
Villa Borghese may refer to:*The Villa Borghese Pinciana , the villa built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio , developing sketches by Scipione Borghese, who used it as a villa suburbana, a party villa, at the edge of Rome, and to house his art collection.**The Galleria...
, (1796).
In 1798, he became one of five consuls of the short-lived Roman Republic
Roman Republic (18th century)
The Roman Republic was proclaimed on February 15, 1798 after Louis Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome on February 10....
. With the restoration of papal control in Rome he had to emigrate to Paris, where his presence was most welcome: "this event we considered as one of the happiest results of our victories", wrote the antiquary Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison
Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison
Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison was an antiquary and naturalist erudite in various domains, who followed Jean-Jacques Barthélemy as curator of the Cabinet des médailles et antiques of the former French royal library and took an interest in medieval art, which was just beginning to attract...
. At the end of 1799 he became curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of antiquities of the Musée Napoleon housed in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, many of which were familiar to him as booty removed under the stipulations of the Treaty of Tolentino
Treaty of Tolentino
The Treaty of Tolentino was signed after nine months of negotiations between France and the Papal States on February 19, 1797. It was part of the events following the invasion of Italy in the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars...
(1796); his descriptions were published by Robillard-Perronville in Le Musée français; In 1803 he was made professor of archaeology at the Institut de France
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
. In Paris he published a series of portraits of famous men of Antiquity: Iconographie Grecque, 3 vols. 1808, and a first volume of Iconographie Romaine, 1818. At his death, extended obituaries were published by Quatremère de Quincy
Quatremère de Quincy
Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy was a French armchair archaeologist and architectural theorist, a Freemason, and an effective arts administrator and influential writer on art....
and others.
When Parliamentary debates were mooting the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles
Elgin Marbles
The Parthenon Marbles, forming a part of the collection known as the Elgin Marbles , are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures , inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens...
for the British nation, Visconti was among the scholars asked to offer statements of their cultural value; his memoir was translated into English and published.
Visconti was succeeded as curator of antiquities at the Louvre by the comte de Clarac
Charles Othon Frédéric Jean-Baptiste de Clarac
Charles Othon Frédéric Jean-Baptiste, Comte de Clarac was a French artist, scholar and archaeologist.-Life:Emigrating on the Revolution, he travelled round Europe, finding success in drawing and archaeology. He became tutor to the children of Joachim Murat, king of Naples, and was charged by...
.
Though Visconti was firmly grounded in the antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
traditions of connoisseurship, which rated associative values high, in portraits and assumed portraits of the great—both philosopohers and emperors— and though he concentrated on disentangling the iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
of the sculptures and reliefs he was describing, Visconti is also a liminal figure at the beginnings of modern art history, as when, Haskell and Penny note, he concedes that he has perhaps overestimated the beauty of a statue in his delight at recognising in it the portrait of Phocion
Phocion
Phocion was an Athenian statesman and strategos, and the subject of one of Plutarch's Parallel Lives....
. His sense of loyalty to the sculpture he had grown up with induced him to see in the best of these copies of classical Greek and Hellenistic originals, such as the Apollo Belvedere
Apollo Belvedere
The Apollo Belvedere or Apollo of the Belvedere—also called the Pythian Apollo— is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century, during the Renaissance...
and the Laocoön
Laocoön and his Sons
The statue of Laocoön and His Sons , also called the Laocoön Group, is a monumental sculpture in marble now in the Vatican Museums, Rome. The statue is attributed by the Roman author Pliny the Elder to three sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus...
, "perfected imitations" made for Roman collectors of taste, and that the traditions of ancient sculpture were a cumulative history of improvements, rather as Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, it was felt, refined and improved upon Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
.
His son, Pietro Ercole Visconti, edited Versi di Ennio Quirino Visconti, raccolti per cura di Pietro Visconti
His son Louis Visconti became a noted architect in France.
His brother, Filippo Aurelio Visconti (died 1830) was also a classical scholar, who published the Museo Chiaramonti, a successor to the Museo Pio-Clementino.
Works
- Museo Pio-Clementino
- Sculture del Palazzo della Villa Borghese della Pinciana brevemente desritte 2 vols. 1796.
- Monumenti Scelti Borghesiani
- Monumenti Gabini
- Iconographia greca (as Iconographie grècque, Paris 1808)
- First volume of Iconographie romaine (4 vol., 1817–26), finished by Antoine Mongez
These five works were reissued, with emendations, in Milan, 1827–37, some under the title Opere varie italiane e francesi edited by Giovanni Labus.