The Figure of the Naturalist

HISCOL fhm024 CM NOT FOR JOURNAL NAME MS No. CE Code PUBLIC RELEASE Journal of the History of Collections ( ) pp. – T h e fi gure of the naturalist – antiquary in the Kingdom of Naples Giuseppe Giovene ( – ) and his contemporaries Maria Toscano Genuine products of Enlightenment encyclopaedic culture, the naturalist– antiquaries followed Bacon and 5 Buffon in applying the scientifi c inductive method with its reliance on material evidence to the study of history. This gave rise both to original research and to the formation of collections combining naturalist and antiquarian studies. This approach was particularly prevalent in Britain and in Italy in the Veneto and the Kingdom of Naples, thanks to exchanges between scholars. Giuseppe Giovene’s collection and library are highly representative of this intellectual activity in southern Italy, with its vital local roots and 10 awareness of contemporary developments abroad. T HE widespread conviction, originating in the case of The ‘ naturalist – antiquary ’ mentality focused on 40 southern Italian intellectual history with Benedetto experimental data and on the methodological and Croce, that eighteenth-century historical studies epistemological common ground between scientifi c could be based either on erudition or on criticism, but and humanist disciplines. It was rooted in an interpre- 15 that never the two would meet, has only recently tation of Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton that privi- begun to encounter any serious attempts at refuta- leged experimentation over theory, drawing on the 45 tion. 1 Newer studies increasingly reveal a highly com- philanthropy of the ideologues and the dictates of Francis plex cultural situation and identify the salient Bacon. It also involved a reappraisal of Giambattista distinction between documentum and monumentum , Vico and, in southern Italy, Giovambattista della 20 that is, the history of texts in opposition to the history Porta, as well as the study of the works of Muratori, of places. 2 In the eighteenth century the exclusive Genovesi and Giannone. Of special signifi cance was 50 study of traditional sources, however philologically the reconciliation brought about between the methods accurate, seems to have been left solely to backward of the antiquaries and the naturalists, as advocated in scholars, while the practice of observing sites and the earlier writings of Buffon. 25 monuments at fi rst hand became in general the pre- In this perspective, history – meaning both the his- rogative of the more ‘ enlightened ’ intellectuals, even tory of the Earth and the history of mankind – became 55 when there was no evidence of the political commit- a fundamental and unifying discipline for endeavours ment implied in adherence to the Enlightenment. In which were apparently quite disparate such as chem- the complex world of antiquarianism in the late s istry, geology and philology. The scientifi c method of 30 there were also some who tried to combine a critical the naturalist – antiquaries was based on the chemical study of sources with fi rst-hand observation of sites. analysis of rocks (always collected in person) and on 60 The results attained by this distinctive application of drawings made on the spot (often the work of profes- Enlightenment ideals could well be quite signifi cant sionals). This went hand-in-hand with perusal of the and often involved the formation of composite collec- historical sources and the critical interpretation of 35 tions. The following pages present an examination of myths which might have a bearing on the site in ques- this very specifi c class of intellectuals who, in spite of tion. The fundamental goal was to reconstruct the 65 the errors and contradictions inherent in the ideology past history of a particular site with a view to improv- to which they adhered, surely illustrate an interesting ing the future of its inhabitants. There is no doubt phase of the passage from ancient to modern. that there were signs of a dated mentality in many of © The Author . Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. doi:10.1093/jhc/fhm024 MARIA TOSCANO these naturalists: some for instance took an interest in This was the case in particular of the powerful minis- 70 natural phenomena bordering on magic (such as rhab- ter for war and the navy, John Acton, and his cele- domancy), while others, particularly in southern Italy, brated fellow countryman Hamilton, plenipotentiary 120 saw it as their Christian duty to seek to reconcile the envoy in Naples from , who often appears to have geological eras with the very short time spans dictated acted as a go-between, linking the spheres of govern- by biblical chronology. Yet, in their intentions at least, ment and the Kingdom’s intellectuals. 75 their research methods did in some respects anticipate The court had founded or promoted such institu- the practice of modern archaeology. tions as the Accademia di Scienze e Belle Lettere and 125 The naturalist – antiquary mentality seems to have the Accademia Militare. Nonetheless, most of the developed in eighteenth-century England, taking root projects put forward by the enlightened intellectuals in the context of the Royal Society, thanks above all to came to naught, sometimes in spite of the best – if 80 the infl uence of Sir Joseph Banks and Sir William overambitious – intentions of the court. The result Hamilton. 3 In Italy it was to be found sporadically was a growing sense of impotence and disillusion 130 throughout the length of the peninsula, but it was which led the intellectuals to resort to more radical present particularly in the Veneto, in the context of ways of making an impact on political developments the academy of Melchiorre Cesarotti in Padua, and in in the Kingdom. 4 After the grave political 85 some Masonic circles of the Kingdom of Naples, upheavals left the intellectuals deeply divided. The especially that led by the De Gennaro brothers. international community of naturalist – antiquaries 135 In the Bourbon capital during the s and s, which had formed in Naples around the charismatic the spell of ancient history and the spectacle offered fi gure of Hamilton was quickly dispersed. The by the frequent natural cataclysms were so closely foreigners returned to their own countries while 90 linked as to make this part of the peninsula the ideal almost all the Italians became involved, whether as laboratory for all who sought to reconcile antiquarian protagonists or as mere bystanders, in the revolution- 140 and scientifi c studies. The Kingdom of Naples was all ary uprisings. The subjects of the Kingdom partici- the more appealing to this class of intellectuals pated in the all too brief lifespan of the Neapolitan because, having thrown off the Austrian yoke, it was Republic, and in many cases were caught up in its 95 now ruled by a young king, Ferdinando di Borbone, tragic demise. The few who did survive generally and his consort, Maria Carolina of Austria – she in went on to live a secluded life, and in some cases even 145 particular being attracted by the ideals of the Enlight- abandoned their studies. The dream of the natural- enment and making no secret of her sympathies for ist – antiquaries was never fulfi lled. a certain Masonic milieu. This situation was full of As collectors, the naturalist – antiquaries assembled 100 promise: the naturalist – antiquaries hoped not only to and organized arrays of objects featuring items which be able to advance their studies but also to achieve at fi rst appear to have nothing in common. On closer 150 that chief aim of knowledge which they shared with consideration, however, they prove to have been con- all the adepts of the Enlightenment, namely Bacon’s stituted on the basis of a precise criterion which ideal of the common good. Scholars from all over Italy responds perfectly to a specifi c experimental ethos. 105 and Europe converged on Naples, which rapidly The collections contained mostly items which we became a cosmopolitan city. Over the following two would regard as having a geological interest, alongside 155 decades, the confrontation of intellectuals from very others belonging to the spheres of palaeontology and different backgrounds produced instances of consen- archaeology. All these objects might typically have sus which were often far reaching and benefi cial to the been found on a single site, visited in person and stud- 110 community. ied diligently by the collector with the aim of recon- A crucial role in managing the nation’s economy structing its vicissitudes (whether human or geological), 160 was played by the Council of Finances, which num- reaching as far back in time as possible, beyond the bered many of the leading exponents of the Enlight- eras when men were able, whether consciously or not, enment native to the Kingdom of Naples. At the same to leave traces of their existence. The naturalist – 115 time its business was also greatly infl uenced by the antiquaries were fi rmly opposed to generalizing theo- British entourage, which exerted pressure even on the ries that they regarded as inevitably hypothetical and 165 decisions taken by the King and Queen themselves. hence – at least in part – false. In their opinion, it was of GIUSEPPE GIOVENE ( – ) AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES preferable to gain certain knowledge of a single detail adorned the cabinets of the naturalist – antiquaries rather than elaborating explanations for the whole were seldom oil paintings; by preference they were universe without a shred of experimental evidence. 5 gouaches or even the original pen and ink drawings 170 They based their research on Bacon’s inductive made on the spot. It was believed that in easel paint- method, but also on Newton’s experimentalism and ing some of the immediacy and faithfulness of the 220 the technique of digging down into the archives of the original experience would be lost, as we know from world, les archives du monde , advocated by Buffon.

Load more