Thanks to the Diary of Memories and other documents, the author reconstructs an unpublished page in the life of the Lucchese nobleman Giuseppe Binda, who, at the beginning of the 19th century, moved between Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Naples and Rome, sympathizing with the pre-Risorgimento ideas. Through his friendship with the Marquises Maccarani, in 1810 he was a regular visitor to Antonio Canova’s studio in Rome, and the accounts of his visits to the atelier offer new insights into the sculptor’s creative process, as he was intent on creating the Equestrian Statue of Napoleon, Napoleon as Mars the Peacekeeper and Venus Italica. In those years Binda became acquainted with the most prominent personalities in the social sphere, such as the Borghese librarian Evasio Gozzani, the abbot Giovanbattista Sartori, Canova’s brother, the scholar Leopoldo Cicognara, Juan Andrés Morell, at that time prefect of the Royal Library of Naples, and the dancer and improviser Teresa Bandettini, known as Amarilli Etrusca. Binda in his memoirs draws brief but iconic portraits of all these people.
Grazie al Diario dei ricordi e ad altri documenti, l’autore ricostruisce una pagina inedita della vita del nobiluomo lucchese Giuseppe Binda, che agli inizi dell’Ottocento si mosse tra Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Napoli e Roma simpatizzando con le istanze pre-risorgimentali. Grazie all’amicizia con i marchesi Maccarani, nell’Urbe nel 1810 fu assiduo frequentatore dello studio di Antonio Canova e i racconti delle visite all’atelier offrono nuovi spunti di lettura sul fare artistico del grande scultore, intento a realizzare la Statua equestre di Napoleone, Napoleone come Marte pacificatore e la Venere Italica. In quegli anni Binda conobbe le personalità più in vista della società, come il bibliotecario di casa Borghese Evasio Gozzani, l’abate Giovanbattista Sartori, fratello di Canova, il letterato Leopoldo Cicognara, Juan Andrés Morell, all’epoca prefetto della Biblioteca Reale di Napoli, fino alla ballerina improvvisatrice Teresa Bandettini nota come Amarilli Etrusca, tracciandone nelle sue memorie brevi quanto iconici ritratti
Roma 1810. Giuseppe Binda in visita allo studio di Antonio Canova
adriano amendola
2021-01-01
Abstract
Thanks to the Diary of Memories and other documents, the author reconstructs an unpublished page in the life of the Lucchese nobleman Giuseppe Binda, who, at the beginning of the 19th century, moved between Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Naples and Rome, sympathizing with the pre-Risorgimento ideas. Through his friendship with the Marquises Maccarani, in 1810 he was a regular visitor to Antonio Canova’s studio in Rome, and the accounts of his visits to the atelier offer new insights into the sculptor’s creative process, as he was intent on creating the Equestrian Statue of Napoleon, Napoleon as Mars the Peacekeeper and Venus Italica. In those years Binda became acquainted with the most prominent personalities in the social sphere, such as the Borghese librarian Evasio Gozzani, the abbot Giovanbattista Sartori, Canova’s brother, the scholar Leopoldo Cicognara, Juan Andrés Morell, at that time prefect of the Royal Library of Naples, and the dancer and improviser Teresa Bandettini, known as Amarilli Etrusca. Binda in his memoirs draws brief but iconic portraits of all these people.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
