Antonio Nibby

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Antonio Nibby (1792-1839)

Antonio Nibby (born October 4, 1792 in Rome , † December 29, 1839 ibid) was an Italian archaeologist , topographer and university teacher .

Youth and education

Antonio Nibby was born the son of the sausage merchant Vincenzo Nibbi (this is the regular form of the family name) and Maddalena Gianni. His family originally came from Amatrice but had moved to Rome. After primary school he received lessons in grammar, Italian literature, Latin rhetoric and Greek language at the Collegio Romano from 1803 to 1807 . In the following years he studied philosophy and theology there. In 1809, at the age of only 17, he founded the Accademia Ellenica ("Hellenic Academy"), the aim of which was to promote research into the Greek language and literature, and which cooperated closely with the French occupying power and French cultural circles. From 1810 he attended the lectures of Lorenzo Re , professor of archeology at the Archiginnasio della Sapienza , whose successor he was to become in 1820. As can be seen from the documents of the competition for the professorship at the University of La Sapienza in 1820, he did not get a connection. From 1812 he worked in the Vatican Library and served as secretary for Louis Bonaparte , the King of the Netherlands , who had been in exile since 1814 . In 1815 he married Maria Valburga Viviani from Lucca . The marriage resulted in eleven children, seven of whom survived childbed.

Act

In 1816 Nibby became a member of the Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia , which enabled him to get in touch and communicate with many other scientists. With the increasing establishment of archeology as a serious subject and part of the cultural life of Rome, he began to publish almost without interruption from 1817, which began with a translation of Pausanias' description of Greece . This work received a consistently positive response in the international professional world, but was heavily criticized by the poet and philologist Giacomo Leopardi . But Nibby's strengths were less in philology than in archeology and topography as well as in the journalistic activities in these two sciences. The combination of these strengths resulted in a kind of early educational travel guide to ancient Rome. The Itinerario di Roma in particular was a resounding success and had eleven new editions by 1894. The book, which has also been translated into French several times, was very much appreciated by Stendhal , among others . More travel guides to other or more specific destinations followed in the years to come, including books on Via Portuense , Villa Adriana , Ostia Antica, and Villa des Horace and Subiaco . In 1819 he became a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia under the pseudonym Cleomante Samio .

In 1820, after the death of Lorenzo Re, the chair of archeology at La Sapienza University was re-advertised in a regular competition. Nibby won this competition without first having an archaeological degree. He organized courses on various subjects and integrated aspects of local Roman monuments, archaeological sites, museums and Christian basilicas. He wrote a kind of study regulation that provides a picture of his teaching method: scholastic, concise, stringent, systematic and rich in data. In the following years he was to become a regular, corresponding or honorary member of many scientific institutions: 1820 of the Accademia Reale Ercolanese (Royal Academy of Herculaneum ), 1822 of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , 1823 honorary member of the Accademia di San Luca , 1827 corresponding member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres , 1829 one of the first members of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome , 1833 of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze , 1836 professor of archeology at the Académie de France à Rome and 1838 at the Accademia Reale delle Scienze di Torino (“Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin ”) and the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon .

For a while he worked with the British archaeologist William Gell and published this work in a study on the walls of Rome. They originally intended to jointly publish a study on the topography of the Roman Campagna , but then published separately from one another. In 1825, Nibby became a member of the Philological College of the Faculty of Literature ( Collegio Filologico della Facoltà di Lettere ) and the General Consultative General Commission on Antiques and Fine Arts ( Commissione generale consultiva di Antichità e Belle Arti ), which oversee the artistic and archaeological heritage of the Papal States and to protect what went along with permanent inspections of the city, supervision of excavations, control of monuments, commenting on construction measures and reporting on chance finds. From 1827 to 1832, Nibby, together with Giuseppe Valadier , who was responsible for the technical drafting of the general plan, led the excavation work on the Colosseum and on part of the Roman Forum , which brought the original paving between the Coliseum and the Arch of Constantine to light. He also dug on the Arch of Titus , the Temple of Venus and Roma and on the slopes of the Campidoglio up to the Arch of Septimius Severus . Nibby is responsible for the correct identifications of some monuments that had previously been misinterpreted (for example, Basilica of Maxentius or Basilica of Constantine instead of the " Temple of Peace of Vespasian ", Dying Gaul instead of "Dying Gladiator", Circus des Maxentius instead of "Circus des Caracalla").

One of his most important topographical works is a product of the cooperation with William Gell, the Carta de 'dintorni di Roma (map of the environs of Rome) from 1827, which is the result of five years of topographical surveys in the Roman Campagna and the first archaeological map of Lazio created using trigonometric methods to correctly display the various locations on the map. He was now the expert on the topography of Rome and its hinterland. In 1827 Nibby dug again in the area of ​​the Roman Forum and in 1829 emptied the backfilling of the Cloaca Maxima .

He died at the age of only 47, probably as a result of pneumonia or malarial fever, which he contracted during his expeditions to the Roman Campagna, leaving his family in an economically precarious situation. Nibby was buried in the suffragio chapel of Campo Verano with state support and with numerous participants .

Fonts (selection)

  • Roma antica di Famiano Nardini arricchita di note ed osservazioni critico-antiquarie . Stamperia Di Romanis, Rome 1818, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Viaggio antiquario nei dintorni di Roma . V. Poggioli stampatore, Rome 1819 ( digitized version ).
  • Che contiene il viaggio a Frascati, Tusculo, Algido, Grottoferrato, alle valle Ferentina, al lago Albano, ad Alba, Aricia, Nemi, Lanavio, Cora, Anzio, Lacinio, Ardea, Ostia, Laurentia e Porto . V. Poggioli stampatore, Rome 1819, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Del tempio della Pace e della basilica di Costantino . De Romanis, Rome 1819, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Itinerario di Roma e delle sue vicinanze / compilato da Antonio Nibby secondo il methodo del Vasi . 2 volumes, Rome 1820, ( 8th edition from 1870 as a digitized version on Google Books ).
  • Le Mura di Roma disegnate da Sir W. Gell, illustrate con testo note da A. Nibby . V. Poggioli stampatore, Rome 1821, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Il tempio della Fortuna Prenestina ristaurato da Costantino Thon . De Romanis, Rome 1825.
  • Del circo volgarmente detto di Caracalla . De Romanis, Rome 1825, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • A map of the Rome's surroundings with the comments and an historical / topographical analysis of ancient Rome . Rome 1827.
  • Descrizione della Villa Adriana . Angelo Ajani, Rome 1927, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Della Via Portuense e dell 'antica citta' di Porto . Angelo Ajani, Rome 1927, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Viaggio antiquario alla Villa di Orazio, a Subiaco ea Trevi. Presso le sorgenti del fiume Aniena . Nobili, Rome 1828.
  • Viaggio antiquario ad Ostia . Società tipografica, Rome 1829, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Monumenti scelti della villa Borghese . Rome 1832, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  • Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de 'Dintorni di Roma . 3 volumes, Tipografia delle belle arti, Rome 1837, ( 2nd edition from 1848 as digitized version ).
  • Roma nell'anno 1838 . 4 volumes, Tipografia delle belle arti, Rome 1839–1841, ( digitized from Google Books ).

literature

  • Secondiano Campanari, Biografia del professor Antonio Nibby . In: album. Giornale letterario e di Belle Arti 6, 49, 1840, pp. 385-387.
  • Agostino Cappello: Antonio Nibby . In: Giornale Arcadico di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 98, 1843, pp. 338-341.
  • Pietro Ercole Visconti : Necrologio di Antonio Nibby . In: Dissertazioni della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 11, 1852, pp. V – VI.
  • Giulio Quirino Giglioli : Un grande archeologo romano: Antonio Nibby . In: Scienza e Tecnica 4, 1940, 12, pp. 597-604.
  • Paola Pelagatti: Nibby, Antonio . In: Enciclopedia dell 'Arte Antica . Volume 5, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1963 ( digitized version ).
  • Roberto Peliti: Breve biografia di Antonio Nibby . Rome 1966 (with list of publications).
  • Massimiliano Valenti: Antonio Nibby (1792-1839) . In: ders. (Ed.): Colli Albani. Protagonisti e luoghi della ricerca archeologica nell'Ottocento . Libreria Cavour, Frascati 2011, ISBN 978-88-90408-55-7 , pp. 61-63 ( digitized version ).
  • Adriano Ruggeri:  Nibby, Antonio. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 79:  Nursio – Ottolini Visconti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2013, pp. 308-311.
  • Fabrizio Iovine: Antonio Nibby e la Carta de 'dintorni di Roma. Un viaggio lungo cinque anni . Dissertation Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome 2013/14 ( digitized version ).
  • Ronald T. Ridley: Nibby, Antonio (1792-1839) . In: Nancy Thomson De Grummond (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archeology . Routledge, London 2015.

Web links

Commons : Antonio Nibby  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Autore: Antonio Nibby  - Sources and full texts (Italian)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Adriano Ruggeri:  Nibby, Antonio. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 79:  Nursio – Ottolini Visconti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2013.
  2. Descrizione della Grecia di Pausanias, nuova elements dal testo greco tradotta da Antonio Nibby . 4 volumes, Presso Vinc. Poggioli, Rome 1817-1818.
  3. Antonio Nibby: Viaggio antiquatio nei dintorni di Roma . Presso V. Poggioli stampatore, Rome 1819 ( digitized version ); Itinerario di Roma e delle sue vicinanze / compilato da Antonio Nibby secondo il methodo del Vasi . Rome 1820, ( 8th edition of 1870 as digitized version on Google Books ).
  4. ^ Antonio Nibby: Della Via Portuense e dell 'antica citta' di Porto . Angelo Ajani, Rome 1927, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  5. Antonio Nibby: Descrizione della Villa Adriana . Angelo Ajani, Rome 1927, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  6. ^ Antonio Nibby: Viaggio antiquario ad Ostia . Società tipografica, Rome 1829, ( digitized from Google Books ).
  7. ^ Antonio Nibby: Viaggio antiquario alla Villa di Orazio, a Subiaco ea Trevi. Presso le sorgenti del fiume Aniena . Nobili, Rome 1928.
  8. ^ Antonio Nibby: Elementi di archeologia ad uso dell'Archiginnasio romano . Rome 1928, ( digitized at Google Books )
  9. Le Mura di Roma disegnate da Sir W. Gell, illustrate con testo note da A. Nibby . Presso V. Poggioli stampatore, Rome 1820, digitized from Google Books .
  10. See also William Gell: The Topography of Rome and its Vicinity with Map . 2 volumes, London 1834. Expanded edition by Edward Henry Banbury. London 1846; and Ders .: Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de 'dintorni di Roma secondo le osservazione di Sir W. Gell e del professore A. Nibby , Rome 1837. 2nd edition 1848.
  11. ^ Antonio Nibby: Analisi storico-topografico-antiquaria della carta de 'Dintorni di Roma . 3 volumes, Tipografia delle belle arti, Rome 1837, ( 2nd edition from 1848 as digitized version ).
  12. ^ Fabrizio Iovine: Antonio Nibby e la Carta de 'dintorni di Roma. Un viaggio lungo cinque anni . Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome 2004, ( digitized ).
  13. Ronald T. Ridley: Nibby, Antonio (1792-1839) . In: Nancy Thomson De Grummond (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archeology . Routledge, London 2015.
  14. ^ Antonio Maria Colini : La tomba di Antonio Nibby al Verano . In: Strenna dei Romanisti 32, 1971, pp. 110-113.