The Art of Discovery : Digging Into the Past in Renaissance Europe

**A panoramic history of the antiquarians whose discoveries** **transformed Renaissance culture and gave rise to new forms of art and knowledge** In the early fifteenth century, a casket containing the remains of the Roman historian Livy was unearthed at a Benedictine abbey in Padua. The find was greeted with the same enthusiasm as the bones of a Christian saint, and established a pattern that antiquarians would follow for centuries to come. __The Art of Discovery__ tells the stories of the Renaissance antiquarians who turned material remains of the ancient world into sources for scholars and artists, inspirations for palaces and churches, and objects of pilgrimage and devotion. Maren Elisabeth Schwab and Anthony Grafton bring to life some of the most spectacular finds of the age, such as Nero’s Golden House and the wooden placard that was supposedly nailed to the True Cross. They take readers into basements, caves, and cisterns, explaining how digs were undertaken and shedding light on the methods antiquarians—and the alchemists and craftspeople they consulted—used to interpret them. What emerges is not an origin story for modern archaeology or art history but rather an account of how early modern artisanal skills and technical expertise were used to create new knowledge about the past and inspire new forms of art, scholarship, and devotion in the present. __The Art of Discovery__ challenges the notion that Renaissance antiquarianism was strictly a secular enterprise, revealing how the rediscovery of Christian relics and the bones of martyrs helped give rise to highly interdisciplinary ways of examining and authenticating objects of all kinds.

A panoramic history of the antiquarians whosediscoveries transformed Renaissance culture andgave rise to new forms of art and knowledge In the earlyfifteenth century, a casket containing the remains of the Romanhistorian Livy was unearthed at a Benedictine abbey in Padua. Thefind was greeted with the same enthusiasm as the bones of aChristian saint, and established a pattern that antiquarians wouldfollow for centuries to come. The Art of Discovery tellsthe stories of the Renaissance antiquarians who turned materialremains of the ancient world into sources for scholars and artists,inspirations for palaces and churches, and objects of pilgrimageand devotion. Maren Elisabeth Schwab and Anthony Grafton bring tolife some of the most spectacular finds of the age, such as Nero'sGolden House and the wooden placard that was supposedly nailed tothe True Cross. They take readers into basements, caves, andcisterns, explaining how digs were undertaken and shedding light onthe methods antiquarians-and the alchemists and craftspeople theyconsulted-used to interpret them. What emerges is not an originstory for modern archaeology or art history but rather an accountof how early modern artisanal skills and technical expertise wereused to create new knowledge about the past and inspire new formsof art, scholarship, and devotion in the present. The Art ofDiscovery challenges the notion that Renaissanceantiquarianism was strictly a secular enterprise, revealing how therediscovery of Christian relics and the bones of martyrs helpedgive rise to highly interdisciplinary ways of examining andauthenticating objects of all kinds.

Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 12 Chapter 1. The Antiquarian: A Field Guide 18 Chapter 2. Livy’s Bones 58 Chapter 3. The Girl on the Appian Way 89 Chapter 4. The Titulus of the True Cross 126 Chapter 5. Disentangling Ancient Sources 179 Chapter 6. Looking for Monsters in the Grottoes 207 Chapter 7. Digging for Dunstan 243 Chapter 8. Reading the Robe 264 Chapter 9. Antiquarianism and Its Discontents 297 Index 316