Committee:

Anthony Grafton, co-adviser
Teresa Shawcross, co-adviser
Jennifer Rampling
William Stenhouse, Yeshiva University

Abstract:

In Europe in the fifteenth century, classical and early Christian artifacts were documented on an unprecedented scale. A number of figures, many of whom we would consider humanists of Italian origin, set out in search of such artifacts across the Italian peninsula and the northeastern Mediterranean and made highly detailed, accurate records of them. The most renown among these figures were Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459), Ciriaco d'Ancona (1391-1452), and Biondo Flavio (1392-1463). This development marked the rise of a new form of research, now called antiquarian scholarship. This dissertation attempts to explain how and why this phenomenon occurred.

Modern scholars have seen antiquarian scholarship as a consequence of the rise of humanism. However, this dissertation shows that the first two generations of humanists, beginning with Petrarch (1304-1374) were not particularly interested in ancient artifacts and, to the extent that they did study them, they relied primarily on textual sources rather than firsthand observation. What changed with the third generation of humanists, and especially with Ciriaco, was their newfound engagement in a certain social custom that I identify as the antiquarian excursion. Humanists began to meet with the Italian urban elite and go out on collective tours of ancient artifacts. This custom flourished above all in the Italian colonies and commercial outposts in the northeastern Mediterranean. The urban elite in this region had already begun to explore the territories and their antiquities several generations prior, since the first substantial settlements after the Fourth Crusade. They made a practical reconnaissance of the territories, motivated by military and commercial concerns, and also had a special cultural interest in ancient artifacts, which they felt bestowed upon them prestige and suggested the ancient nobility of the places they ruled. They applied their practical skills, built especially on their commercial background, examining and assessing the material objects closely. With the rise of the antiquarian excursion, the humanist skill, grounded in the erudite study of textual sources, merged with the practical skill of the urban elite in observing material artifacts. As dozens of Italians now took part in the exploration, they revolutionized the study of antiquities.

A copy of the dissertation will be available for review two weeks before the exam. Contact Lee Horinko for a copy of the dissertation and the Zoom meeting link and password.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend.