Filippo Buonarroti
Encyclopedia
Filippo Buonarroti the great-grandnephew of Michelangelo Buonarroti, was a Florentine
official at the court of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and an antiquarian
, whose Etruscan studies
, among the earliest in that field, inspired Antonio Francesco Gori
. The Etruscan art and antiquities in the family palazzo-museum of Florence, Casa Buonarroti
, are his contribution to the artistic-intellectual memorial to the Buonarroti.
Buonarroti pursued studies in law and exercised an early scientific curiosity.
His early iconographic study of Imperial bronze coins and medals of Roman emperors in the collection of Cardinal Gasparo di Carpegna, which he dedicated to Cosimo III, made his reputation as a scholar; it was published as Osservazioni Istoriche sopra alcuni medaglioni antichi all'Altezza Serenissima di Cosimo III Granduca di Toscana (Rome 1698) and contained thirty full-page engraved plates by Francesco Andreoni, all but one of coins. The books had its origins in Buonarroti's years 1684 to 1699 in Rome in the familia
of Cardinal Carpegna, whom he served as secretary, conservator of collections and librarian.
In 1699 Cosimo III recalled him to Tuscany and employed him as Auditore delle Riformagioni, as minister of the Pratica of Pistoia, secretary of the Florentine Pratica and as a participant in a newly organised committee for jurisdictional affairs. In 1700 he was made a senator, a purely honorary role in the Medici Grand Duchy.
He is remembered most for his pioneering Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vasi antichi di vetro ornate di figure trovati nei cimiteri di Roma (1716), in which he made the extraordinary, almost proto-Romantic
assertion that the aesthetic crudity of early Christian art, often remarked by connoisseurs of Roman arts, had served to intensify the piety of the worshipper, an early expression of feeling for primitive art.
He re-edited and updated Thomas Dempster
's De Etruria Regalia (in eight volumes, 1723), a classic study of Etruscan art that had been written a century earlier by the Scottish scholar who was based in Pisa. Buonarroti provided some of the engraved illustrations and in 1724 he published a commentary on the work.
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
official at the court of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and an 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...
, whose Etruscan studies
Etruscology
Etruscology is the study of the ancient Italian civilization of the Etruscans, which was incorporated into an expanding Roman Empire during the period of Rome's Middle Republic...
, among the earliest in that field, inspired Antonio Francesco Gori
Antonio Francesco Gori
Antonio Francesco Gori, on his titlepages Franciscus Gorius was a Florentine antiquarian, a priest in minor orders, provost of the Baptistery of San Giovanni from 1746, and a professor at the Liceo, whose numerous publications of ancient Roman sculpture and antiquities formed part of the repertory...
. The Etruscan art and antiquities in the family palazzo-museum of Florence, Casa Buonarroti
Casa Buonarroti
Casa Buonarroti is a museum in Florence. The building was a property owned by the sculptor Michelangelo, which he left to his nephew, Lionardo Buonarroti. The house was converted into a museum dedicated to the artist by his great nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger...
, are his contribution to the artistic-intellectual memorial to the Buonarroti.
Buonarroti pursued studies in law and exercised an early scientific curiosity.
His early iconographic study of Imperial bronze coins and medals of Roman emperors in the collection of Cardinal Gasparo di Carpegna, which he dedicated to Cosimo III, made his reputation as a scholar; it was published as Osservazioni Istoriche sopra alcuni medaglioni antichi all'Altezza Serenissima di Cosimo III Granduca di Toscana (Rome 1698) and contained thirty full-page engraved plates by Francesco Andreoni, all but one of coins. The books had its origins in Buonarroti's years 1684 to 1699 in Rome in the familia
Familia
Familia was the name of a Polish political party led by the Czartoryski magnates and families allied with them, and formed toward the end of the reign of King August II...
of Cardinal Carpegna, whom he served as secretary, conservator of collections and librarian.
In 1699 Cosimo III recalled him to Tuscany and employed him as Auditore delle Riformagioni, as minister of the Pratica of Pistoia, secretary of the Florentine Pratica and as a participant in a newly organised committee for jurisdictional affairs. In 1700 he was made a senator, a purely honorary role in the Medici Grand Duchy.
He is remembered most for his pioneering Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vasi antichi di vetro ornate di figure trovati nei cimiteri di Roma (1716), in which he made the extraordinary, almost proto-Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
assertion that the aesthetic crudity of early Christian art, often remarked by connoisseurs of Roman arts, had served to intensify the piety of the worshipper, an early expression of feeling for primitive art.
He re-edited and updated Thomas Dempster
Thomas Dempster
Thomas Dempster was a Scottish scholar and historian. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands and the Scottish lowlands, he was sent abroad as a youth for his education. The Dempsters were Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country and...
's De Etruria Regalia (in eight volumes, 1723), a classic study of Etruscan art that had been written a century earlier by the Scottish scholar who was based in Pisa. Buonarroti provided some of the engraved illustrations and in 1724 he published a commentary on the work.