Francesco Scipione Maffei

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Francesco Scipione Maffei
Engraving by Giovanni Marco Pitteri
Born(1675-06-01)1 June 1675
Verona, Republic of Venice, now Italy
Died11 February 1755(1755-02-11) (aged 79)
Verona, Republic of Venice, now Italy
Occupation(s)Dramatist, Archaeologist, Soldier

Francesco Scipione Maffei (Italian: [franˈtʃesko ʃʃiˈpjoːne mafˈfɛi]; 1 June 1675 – 11 February 1755) was an Italian writer and art critic, author of many articles and plays. An antiquarian with a humanist education whose publications on Etruscan antiquities stand as incunables of Etruscology, he engaged in running skirmishes in print with his rival in the field of antiquities, Antonio Francesco Gori.

Early career

Maffei was of the illustrious family that originated in

Accademia degli Arcadi
; on his return to Verona he established a local Arcadia.

In 1703, he volunteered to fight for Bavaria in the

Alessandro
, was second in command at the battle.

In 1709, he went to Padua, where he briefly collaborated with

Antonio Valisnieri in editing the ambitious literary periodical the Giornale de' Letterati d'Italia, which had but a short career.[3][1]

Theatre projects

Subsequently, an acquaintance with the actor Riccoboni led him to exert himself for the improvement of dramatic art in Italy[1] and a revitalized Italian theatre. His masterpiece, the tragedy Merope, 1714, brought him popularity in Europe; it was famed for its rapid action and the elimination of the prologue and chorus. Other works for the theatre include Teatro Italiano, a small collection of works for presentation on the stage, in 1723–1725; and Le Ceremonie, an original comedy, in 1728. A complete edition of his works appeared at Venice (28 vols. 8vo in 1790).[1]

His collections and antiquarian publications

Scipione Maffei

In 1710, he spent some time studying the manuscripts in the Royal Library at Turin; while there he arranged the collection of objects of art which the late Carlo Emanuele, Duke of Savoy had brought from Rome. From 1718 he became especially interested in the archaeology of his native town, and his investigations resulted in the valuable Verona illustrata (1731–1732).[1]

Maffei devoted the years 1732–1736 to travel in France, England, the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. On a visit to London in 1736, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society[4] and received at Oxford University, where he was honoured with a doctoral degree; he returned through Holland and Germany to Verona. He was a friend of Francesco Algarotti
, who wrote him many letters.

On his return to Verona, he built a museum, which he bequeathed, together with his valuable archaeological and artistic collection, to his native city. He bequeathed his collection of manuscripts to the canons of the cathedral of Verona. In later life he became interested in astronomy and physics, and built an observatory to study the stars.

Collection of Francesco Scipione

Philosophical Treatises

Upon returning from his journey in 1736, Maffei wrote the Consiglio politico addressed to the Venetian government. In the treatise, Maffei questioned the structure of Venice's aristocratic government, and suggested the opening of public offices to the elites of the Venetian mainland domains. Ultimately, the Consiglio politico advocated introducing into the government of the Republic of Venice elements of political representation, which Maffei had identified in his antiquarian studies of the Roman constitution, and later observed in foreign lands during his European travels. Maffei did not actually present his Consiglio politico to the Venetian government. The treatise was only published posthumously, shortly before the

Risorgimento, and might have influenced Carlo Cattaneo's federalist ideas.[5]

The Jesuits requested Maffei to write in defence of the orthodox system of grace against the doctrine of the Jansenists, which resulted in his Istoria teologica delle doctrine e delle opinione corse ne cinque primo secoli della chiesa in proposito della divina grazia, del libero arbitrio e della predestinazione, published at Trent, 1742.[6]

He also published a letter and a book arguing against the existence of supernatural

magic
and witches, that mixes both enlightenment thinking and theologic arguments based on scripture.
Augustin Calmet's dissertation on magic and vampires titled Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. (1751).[8]

Posthumous reputation

The secondary school 'Liceo Maffei' in Verona is named in his honour.

He is also known for having written a description of Bartolomeo Cristofori's invention of a hammer mechanism for the harpsichord, work widely considered to comprise the invention of the piano.[9] Maffei published the article in the Giornale de' Letterati d’Italia in 1711.[10] Maffei was one of the editors of the Giornale. Maffei reprinted the article in his Rime e Prose, a collection of some of his writings, published in Venice in 1719.

The Italian poet and translator Ippolito Pindemonte published a biographical elegy on his friend.[11]

Selected publications

Della formazione de' fulmini, 1747

Besides these original works Maffei also collaborated in editions of the works of St. Hilary (Verona, 1730), St. Jerome (1734), and St. Zeno (1739).

See also

Mérope - a tragedy by Voltaire based on an adaptation of Maffei's drama

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Maffei, Francesco Scipione, Marchese di". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 299.
  2. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Marchese Francesco Scipione Maffei" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. ^ Brendan Dooley, Science, Politics, and Society in Eighteenth-Century Italy: The Giornale de' letterati d'Italia and Its World.
  4. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 4 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Guido G. Beduschi, "To imitate the Ancients, having adopted the Corrections of the Moderns: Scipione Maffei’s Consiglio politico", Storia della storiografia, 77, 1/2020, 27–52. DOI:10.19272/202011501002
  6. ^ "Teleological History of the Doctrines and the Opinions Current in the First Five Centuries of the Church in Regard to Divine Grace, Free Will and Predestination"; it was published in Latin in Frankfort, 1765.
  7. ^ Arte magica annichilata, 1754.
  8. ISBN 978-1-5331-4568-0
    .
  9. ^ Stewart Pollens, The Early Pianoforte, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995:43–95.
  10. ^ Scipione Maffei, "Nuova invenzione d’un Gravecembalo col Piano e Forte aggiunte alcune considerazione sopra gli strumenti musicali", in: Giornale de' Letterati d’Italia V, 1711, 144–59.
  11. ^ Elogio del marchese Scipione Maffei, 1790.

References

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