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The beguiling ruins of Rome have a long history of allure. They first engaged the attention of later mediaeval tourists, just as they do today. The interest of travellers was captured in the Renaissance by artists, architects, topographers, antiquarians, archaeologists and writers. Once the ruins were seen to appeal to visitors, and to matter for their aesthetic quality, their protection and attractive presentation became imperative. Rome's ruins were the first to be the object of preservation orders, and novel measures were devised for their conservation in innovative archaeological parks. The city's remains provided models for souvenirs; paintings of them decorated the walls of eighteenth-century English country houses; and picturesque sham Roman ruins sprang up in landscape gardens across Europe. Writers responded in various ways to their emotional appeal. Roland Mayer's attractive new history will delight all those interested in the remarkable survival and preservation of a unique urban environment.
List of contents
1. Ruins in Antiquity; 2. How Rome Became Ruinous; 3. Mediaeval Responses to the Ruins of Rome; 4. The Watershed: Petrarch and his Successors; 5. The Battle for the Ruins; 6. From Topographical Treatise to Guidebook; 7. The Ruins Visualized: Paintings and Vedute, Drawings and Engravings, Photographs; 8. 'Virtual' Rome: Rome Reconstructed-Visionary Archaeology; 9. Remembering the Grand Tour: Paintings, Models and Other Souvenirs; 10. Ruins in the Landscape Garden; 11. Conservation, Restoration and Presentation of Ruins; 12. Literary Responses to the Ruins; Epilogue.
About the author
ROLAND MAYER is Emeritus Professor of Classics at King's College London.
