La divulgazione di scoperte di antichità etrusche a Firenze da Lorenzo a Cosimo I
In: Archeologia Classica: 56, 2006
Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/2634219
A letter sent from Florence to Volterra in 1507, describing the contemporary excavation of the tomb of Castellina in Chianti, immortalized by Leonardo in a drawing in the Louvre, sheds light on the discovery of Etruscan antiquities between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. The drawings on the letter illustrate the tomb, hitherto known only from brief descriptions by Sante Marmocchini and Pierfrancesco Giambullari. The reference in the manuscript to earlier finds at Volterra recalls the genuine and forged finds from this locality and its relationship with the Medici. There emerges a picture of how news spread among intellectuals, especially in the Tuscany of the Medici. Lorenzo was interested in antiquity already and for some twenty years was regularly given all important news; there are plenty of examples of forgeries dedicated to him: it is well known that all the Medici had taste for antiquity.