Giuseppe Marchi (archaeologist)

Giuseppe Marchi (born February 22, 1795 in Tolmezzo near Udine , † February 10, 1860 in Rome ) was an Italian archaeologist and Jesuit . He is considered a pioneer of Christian archeology .

Life

After joining the Jesuit order in 1815, Marchi first became a professor in the religious schools of Terni , Reggio nell'Emilia and Modena . From 1833 to 1838 he worked in the Roman Jesuit College, first as a librarian and finally from 1839 to 1860 as director of the Museum Kircherianum . In 1842/43 he was involved in setting up the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco in the Vatican .

Pope Gregory XVI appointed him curator of the Coemeterien in Rome. In this capacity he began the systematic exploration of the Roman catacombs and discovered the tomb of the martyr Hyacinthus in 1845 , which is still the only previously completely untouched martyr tomb .

Marchi was the teacher and mentor of the famous Christian archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi . He began an elaborate work on early Christian archeology, of which he was only able to complete the first volume on the catacombs of Rome. He bequeathed his large iconographic collection to his student Raffaele Garrucci (1812–1885).

Publications (selection)

• Monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive. Volume I: Architettura cimiteriale della Roma sotterranea cristiana , Rome 1844.

literature

• Maria Cristina Molinari:  Marchi, Giuseppe. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 69:  Mangiabotti – Marconi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2007.
• Victor Saxer: Marchi, Giuseppe, SJ . in: Lexicon for Theology and Church , 3rd edition, Vol. 6, Col. 1307.