Cristina Fumarco. A Lombard among the sepulchres of the Roman countryside: new proposals for the code of the "Ruins of Rome"

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Cristina Fumarco
Un lombardo tra i sepolcri della campagna romana:
nuove proposte per il codice delle "Rovine di Roma"
[A Lombard among the sepulchres of the Roman countryside: new proposals for the code of the "Ruins of Rome"]

in:
Tracce di letteratuta artistica in Lombardia [Traces of Art Literature in Lombardy]
Edited by Alessandro Rovetta
Bari, Pagina Publisher, 2004, ps. 3-59)

Rome, The Appian Way

[1] The code of the Ruins of Rome (preserved at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan with the signature SP 10/33) belongs to the cluster of documents testifying the high antiquarian interest for the ruins of Rome, shown by Lombard cycles from the end of 1400 until mid-1500. There is only one transcription of the code, performed by Giuseppe Mongeri in 1875. We understand that the authoress of this essay has performed a second transcription as her PhD in art history (see. P. 3 n. 1). Our hope is that it will be soon possible to come to a new publication, also in the wake of the excellent critical edition of the Antiquarie prospetiche romane (Prospectives on Roman Antiquities) by Giovanni Agosti and Dante Isella.

Rome, The Appian Way, the Mound of Curiatii

[2] The manuscript includes some 80 drawings accompanied by short descriptions. "The illustrated monuments are temples, sepulchres, arches and other complexes detected in and around Rome, of which is always described the plant and often the elevation and the section, according to the quite innovative method of relief in use in the circles of Sangallo and Bramante, and which will be later on codified theoretically in the famous letter to Leo X by Raphael" (pp. 3-4). It is striking that the object of the relief are almost never the universally known monuments, even at the time, such as the Colosseum or the Pantheon. Instead, they are the "buildings located in the suburbs and in the Roman countryside, with a predilection for the area between the Via Appia, the Via Latina and the Caffarella, rich of tombs in temple or circular form; very few drawings are dedicated to the ruins of the great city" (p. 8). Cristina Fumarco questions on the reasons for this, and so replies: "It does not seem that the author wants to document what is still little known or is about to risk going completely in ruins (therefore, with a programmatic and almost archaeological intent); in fact, he is rather looking for models for an architecture to be build. And he does so with smaller structures such as tombs and nymphs, plants that can be more easily replicated in churches and public buildings of the sixteenth century, compared to the majestic ruins of the baths, and the imperial mansions and temples" (p. 10). A repertoire, in short, for the use of the artist and his students. This fits well (but, mind you, in this case we are in the realm of our personal speculations) with another element highlighted by Ms Fumarco: "The Ruins of Rome is not a handbook and the drawings were not made in direct observations: they are not sketches, but figures made with precision instruments ..., an impractical technique in life drawing and requiring a safe foothold and tranquillity. The code does not have the dignity of a treaty, but it is really even not a simple notebook of reliefs: it has been compiled with the aspiration to become something more, and probably the author wants to create a reasoned repertoire of architectural models based on direct knowledge of the ancient ones, without claiming to have a theoretical value on classical architecture, but rather as a practical tool for the architectural profession" (pp. 6-7).

Rome, The Appian Way, Tomb of Caecilia Metella 

Rome, The Appian Way, Sepulchre of Hilarius Fuscus

[3] The two thorniest issues remain to be dealt with. Among other things, they are those behind which we often lose ourselves, forgetting that they may well be important but are not fundamental: dating and author of the code. On dating, the authoress proposes a period between 1499-1501 and 1503. As for the author, once again it seems to read here again what is discussed relating to the Antiquarie prospetiche romane: the names made up to date are those of Bramante and Bramantino. The author considers these names unrealistic or anyway highly unlikely and suggests as hypothesis to assign the Code to Cristoforo Solari, said "the Hunchback" (1470-1524). See about this the pages from 27 onwards.