Giovanni Gaetano Bottari (15 January 1689,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

– 5 June 1775, Rome) was Vatican librarian and counsellor to Pope

Clement XII Pope Clement XII ( la, Clemens XII; it, Clemente XII; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the ...

Biography

Before he became Vatican librarian, he was director of the grand-ducal press of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

and professor of ecclesiastical history and controversy in the

Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. He is the author of several treatises about art and artists. Amongst his works is ''Dialoghi sopra le tre Arti del Disegno'', published in Lucca, 1754. In these dialogues he criticizes the role of patrons, who "understand little of art" (''Dialoghi II & III''). He was also principal editor of the new edition of the ''Vocabulario della Crusca'' and of the celebrated Vatican edition of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

(1741). Bottari was acquainted to

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

. He probably collaborated on Piranesi's answers to the letters of

Pierre-Jean Mariette Pierre-Jean Mariette (7 May 1694 – 10 September 1774) was a collector of and dealer in old master prints, a renowned connoisseur, especially of prints and drawings, and a chronicler of the careers of French Italian and Flemish artists. He w ...

, and Piranesi dedicated his ''Antichità Romane de' Tempi della Repubblic'' to Bottari.

Works

*''Raccolta di Lettere sulla Pittura, Scultura, ed Architettura Scritte da' Piu Celebri Personaggi'' **Volume 1 **Volume 2 **Volume 3 **Volume 6 **Volume 7 **Volume 8 *

Sources

* * * ''Dialoghi sopra le tre arti del disegno''. Benedini, Lucca 175
digital
1689 births 1775 deaths Writers from Florence Italian librarians 18th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian male writers Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome {{Italy-reli-bio-stub