The Interpretation of Italy During the Last Two Centuries
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 6^60/ 111- DATE DUE 'V rT ^'iinih'^ ,.^i jvT^ifim.mimsmi'^ / PRINTED IN U S A. / CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 082 449 798 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924082449798 THE DECENNIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE DECENNIAL PUBLICATIONS ISSUED IN COMMEMORATION OP THE COMPLETION OP THE PIEST TEX TEARS OP THE UNIVERSITY'S EXISTENCE AUTHORIZED BY THE BOARD OP TRUSTEES ON THE RECOMMENDATION OP THE PRESIDENT AND SENATE EDITED BY A COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE SENATE EDWABD CAPP3 STARR WILLARD CUTTING EOLLIN D. SALISBtTKT JAME9 ROWLAND ANGELL "WILLIAM I. THOMAS SHAILER MATHEWS GAEL DARLING BUCK FREDERIC IVES CARPENTER OSKAB BOLZA JDLIBS 3TIBGLITZ JACQUES LOEB THESE VOLXJMBS ARE DEDICATED TO THE MEN AKD WOMEN OP CUB TIME AND COUNTRY WHO BY WISE AND GENEK0U3 GIVING HAVE ENCOUBAGED THE SEARCH AFTBB TBUTH IN ALL DEPARTMENTS OP KNOWLEDGE THE INTERPRETATION OF ITALY THE INTERPRETATION OF ITALY DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES A CONTKIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF GOETHE'S "ITALIENISCHE KEISE" CAMILLO voN^LENZE rORMBBLI OF THE DBPAETMENT OF GEKMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITEEATUBES. NOW PEOFBSSOE OF GEKMAN IiITEBATDEE IN BEOTVN UNIVEESITT THE DECENNIAL PUBLICATIONS SECOND SERIES VOLUME XVII CHICAGO THE UNIVBKSITY OP CHICAGO PRESS 1907 'y\ Copyright 19(yt by THE UNIVEESIT¥ OF CHICAGO Published April 1907 ^' / (7 ^SJ^ Composed and Printecl By The University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I owe grateful acknowledgment, for valuable assistance in procuring material, to the Libraries of the University of Chicago, of Harvard University, of Cornell University, and of the City of Boston. I also desire to express my gratitude for help received to the managements of the University Library in Munich and of the Goethe-Schiller Archiv in Weimar, and to Dr. Erich Petzet of the Koyal Library at Munich. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction --------- - xiii Chapteb I. The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - 1 Chaptee II. Rationalism ------- 9 Chapter III. Transition from Rationalism to Romanticism 35 Chapter IV. Sicily -------- 59 Chapter V. Goethe's "Tagebucher" - - - - 65 Chapter VI. Romanticism ------ 86 Chapter VII. Goethe's "Italienische Reise" - - - 111 Chapter VIII. Modern Times ------ 123 Appendix. Americans in Italy ------ 143 Index ----- ------ 149 INTRODUCTION Perhaps no one of Goethe's works has called out more contradictory opinions than has the Italienische Reise. To many it is, even today, the best record of Italian travel which we possess; to others it seems insufficient and one-sided. Thus, Christian Schuchardt' claims that for those who aim at true culture there is no better work on Italy, as prepara- tion for the journey and as a guide during the trip, and also as an epitome of one's own experiences after one's return. On the other hand, Niebuhr'' regards Goethe's work as essentially unsatisfactory. He says: Ich mOchte glauben, dass Goethe fur bildlich darstellende Kiinste grade gar keinen Sinn hat .... ein andres ist die ganze Stimmung, worin er nach Italien kommt und in Italien wandelt. Diese ist hOchst merkwiirdig .... aber moehte man nicht darilber weinen? Wenn man so eine ganze Nation und ein ganzes Land bloss als eine Ergotzung filr sich betrachtet, in der ganzen Welt und Natur nichts siehet, als was zu einer unendlichen Decoration des erbarmlichen Lebens gehOrt, alles geistig und menschlich Grosse, alles was zum Herzen spricht, wenn es da ist vornehm beschaut, wenn es vom Entgegengesetzten verdrangt imd tiberwaltigt worden, sich an der komischen Seite des Letzten ergStzet .... All possible shades of opinion exist between these two ex- tremes. Hence it seems not unprofitable to contribute to the study of Goethe's Italienische Reise by a comparison of this work with the travels of his predecessors of the eighteenth century. To round out this background, it will be advisable further to take into account some of the most important ^Goethes ItaliUnische Beise: AufsCitze und AussprUche ilber bildende Kunst. Mit Einleitung und Berioht fiber dessen Kanststudien und Kunsttibungen. Herausg. this von Cheistian Schuchaedt. 2 vols. (Stuttgart ; Vol. 1, 1862 ; Vol. II, 1863) . For passage cf. Vol. I, p. 53. 2Cf. Lebensnachrichten ilber Barthold Georg Niebuhr (Hamburg, 1838), Vol. II, pp. 289 £E. xiii ; xiv Introduction nineteenth-century records of Italian travel; for thus only can we determine both in how far Goethe was original, and to what degree, if any, he has been supplemented. It appears the more worth while to undertake such a task, because Italy, since the Renaissance, has meant more than any other single country to the culture-life of all nations. Generation after generation journeyed thither to derive inspiration from her in various directions. Hence the vast multitude of letters, travels, descriptions, essays, etc., dealing with Italy, which crowd the shelves of libraries in Europe and America, and form one of the important records of the civilization of modern times. Italy, indeed, is so many-sided that she could bestow on all who sought her shores gifts suited to their peculiar needs. No two succeeding generations, at least during the last two centuries, have seen or appreciated there the same elements. What charmed one offended the other ; what was a matter of indifference to one called out pseans of praise from the other. As intellectual life widened, the wealth of Italy's resources became more and more apparent. The more one expected of her, the more she gave ; she never disappointed. The time of Goethe's visit was peculiarly ripe for a new interpretation of the famous peninsula. Rousseau had recon- quered nature ; Winckelmann had revealed Greek antiquity the new scientific movement had stimulated men to a maturer understanding of the physical world; while the study of history in the spirit of Voltaire, and especially of Herder, was preparing for a deeper and more tolerant understanding of human phenomena. Moreover, the strong democratic tendencies of the times, best exemplified, perhaps, by some of the articles in the EncyclopMie, were calling attention to the humbler phases of life. Further, a more general interest in art was rapidly spreading — marked, for instance, by Diderot's Salons, which contributed to the popularization of Introduction painting — and a new interpretation of the artistic past was being faintly foreshadowed, although the old classical stand- ards still held sway. Lastly, a strong sense of the picturesque was asserting itself and was leading to the discovery of hith- erto neglected places. It appears, then, that the period from 1786 to 1788 was a singularly interesting one in which to visit Italy. Goethe's work may be studied as the touch- stone of the degree of intellectual maturity he had reached when he jotted down the impressions and criticisms which form the basis of the Italienisclie Beise. : CHAPTER I THE SIXTEENTH AKD SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES Among the records of Italian travel that have come down to us- through the ages/ the first with which we need occupy ourselves, because of the glamor of the author's name, is the account of a trip through parts of Grermany, iThe most convenient bibliography of Italian travel is to be found in Alessan- DEO d'Ancona, Ultalia alia fine del secolo XVI: Giornale del viaggio di Michele di Montaigne in Italia nel 1580 e 1581: Cittd. di Castello^ 1895, pp. 565 ft'. It is based mainly on Boucher de la Eicharderie, Biblioth&que universelle des voyages (Paris, 1808; 6 vols.), and on Joseph Blanc, Bibliographie italico-francaise universelle, ou catalogue m&thodique de tous les livres imprimis en langue francaise sur Vltalie ancienne et moderne depuis VoriginedeViTaprimArie 1475-J(5S5 (Milan, 1886; 2 vols.). D'Ancona, although not pretending to completeness, proved very useful. But the errors into which he was led by Boucher de la Richarderie, together with numerous misprints, compel caution in the use of the book. Furthermore, Richard, Lalande, Volkmann, Bernoulli, Goethe, Stendhal, Heine, Hehn, and others — all travelers in Italy who will be discussed lat*^r — speak of some of their predecessors. Lastly, a few studies written in popular vein, deal — partially at least — with the subject of this investigation. The first is contained in J. J. Ampere's La Gr^ce, Rome et Danie (I used the 9th ed., Paris, s. a.), pp. 113-228. It is entitled "Portraits de Rome h difffirent? ages," and gives a rapid survey of the utterances on Rome on the part of celebrated men from 425 to about 1830. This essay furnished some stimulating sug- gestions, although the treatment — in keeping with the entire book — is popular rather than scientific. The second study is L. Fbiedlandee's " Reisen in Italien in den letzten drei Jahrhunderten " (Deutsche Rundschau, Yol.\ 11 [1876], pp. 233-51). The eminent historian, from the wealth of his reading, broadly sketches the con- ditions of travel in Italy during the last three centuries, and, often in very suggestive fashion, ditcusses the impressions of the travelers who came to his notice. A. Farinelli, in his excellent investigation entitled Goethe e il Lago Maggiore (Bellin- zona, 1894), mentions many travels to Italy. G. vON Graevenitz, in his Deutsche in Rom {Leipzig, 1902), describes in an attractive way the experiences of prominent Germans in Rome. The book, however, aims at popular treatment, and hence could contribute but slightly to this study. Less valuable is Albert Bouenet's Rome, Mudes de Utt^rature et d'art (Paris, 1883). In chatty style various travelers in Rome (mostly Frenchmen) are passed in review. The second part of the book, entitled "Maltres de I'^cole frangaise h Rome," is unique in plan, though, like the rest, superficial in treatment. The author comments on the sojourn of French painters in Rome frorn Poussin to Regnault.