Humanism and protection of ruins in Rome. Giovanni Dondi and the start between the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth centuries
From the humanistic studies of the Fourteenth century came up a new vision of man, which will lead to
the development of a new vision of art and architecture. The interest in the monuments of Rome of the
early humanists taught us to look at antiquity differently. At the instig of Francesco Petrarca, classical
studies took on a new character.
There was a first conceptualization of history as a discipline and of art as an autonomous activity. Ancient
monuments were studied from a new perspective. The distanced gaze was affirmed, which transformed the
buildings of the past into an object of meditation.
Giovanni Dondi (1330-1388) with the
Iter Romanum
renewed the literature of the description of the
Roman ruins, marking the beginning of a new phase of archaeological investigation, anticipating the great
humanists of the Fifteenth century and supporting the subsequent revaluation of the ancient also in its
material aspects. The process of maturation of a historical consciousness in the age of Humanism had its
first significant manifestation.
