Giovanni Gaetano Bottari

Giovanni Gaetano Bottari (15 January 1689, Florence – 5 June 1775, Rome) was Vatican librarian and counsellor to Pope Clement XII.

He was also advisor to Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini.[1]

Biography

Before he became Vatican librarian, he was director of the grand-ducal press of Tuscany and professor of ecclesiastical history and controversy in the Sapienza.

He is the author of several treatises about art and artists. Amongst his works is Dialoghi sopra le tre Arti del Disegno, published in Lucca, 1754. In these dialogues he criticizes the role of patrons, who "understand little of art" (Dialoghi II & III). He was also principal editor of the new edition of the Vocabulario della Crusca and of the celebrated Vatican edition of Virgil (1741).

Many original copies of his publications are held in the library of the Accademia dei Lincei in the Palazzo Corsini, Rome in Rome.[2]

Bottari was acquainted to Piranesi. He probably collaborated on Piranesi's answers to the letters of Pierre-Jean Mariette, and Piranesi dedicated his Antichità Romane de' Tempi della Repubblic to Bottari.[3]

Works

  • Raccolta di Lettere sulla Pittura, Scultura, ed Architettura Scritte da' Piu Celebri Personaggi
  • Dialoghi sopra le tre arti del disegno (Dialogues on the Three Arts of Drawing) [12]
  • Storia de' ss (History of the Saints) [13]

References

  1. Finestre sull'Arte website, Rome, the history of Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini on display at the Corsini Gallery, article by Redazione dated December 15, 2022
  2. British Museum website, Giovanni Gaetano Bottari
  3. Harvard Art Museum website, Antichità Romane de' Tempi della Repubblica e de' primi Imperatori (2023.175)
  4. ABE Books website, Raccolta di Lettere Sulla Pittura, Scultura ed Architettura, Vol. 4
  5. ABE Books website, Raccolta di Lettere Sulla Pittura, Scultura ed Architettura, Vol. 5
  6. Dictionary of Art Historians website, Bottari G
  7. GoodReads website, Giovanni Gaetano Bottari

Sources



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