Abstract
The Authors examine some elements of the work of the great cartographer Benedetto Marzolla (1801-1858) who, together with Carlo Afàn de Rivera, represents the best among the intellectuals and technicians that the Kingdom of Two Sicilies yielded before the Italian unification. This contrasts with the commonplace outlined be the Savoyard-Risorgimental propaganda which describes Naples and the Kingdom as a country inhabited by incapables, depraved and lazy persons. The Authors resume the theme of the Map of Nourishing Products, an excellent work not only because it describes the terrestrial and marine nourishing productions, but also for the connection with many agrarian landscapes and relative trades. Moreover, the Authors present the Map of Excise Duty (1830) another work of Marzolla together with Valentino, never known or considered by cartography scholars. This map does not seem to be cited inside the catalogues or inventories about Marzolla’s production, compiled by Valerio or by others authors in the frame of the analysis of the Royal Topographical Office of Naples (ROT), especially along the second half of the XIX century. The “modernity” of Marzolla manifests not only in consideration of anti-historical comparisons with actual excellent or “organic” food products, but for the analogies with the original proposals of Brunet, Ferras and other academics of the Maison de la Géographie. Unfortunately, Italian geographers have devoted little attention to this field of study.
Highlights
The Authors examine some elements of the work of the great cartographer Benedetto Marzolla
best among the intellectuals and technicians that the Kingdom of Two Sicilies yielded before the Italian unification
This contrasts with the commonplace outlined be the Savoyard-Risorgimental propaganda which describes Naples
Summary
Così Benedetto Marzolla scriveva il 27 gennaio 1857 a Giuseppe Fiorelli, il futuro famoso archeologo di Pompei. La vicenda della cartografia aragonese del Regno di Napoli è più complessa e quindi necessita di competenze abbastanza elevate, per cui se ne sono occupati quasi solo storici di professione o specialisti di alta caratura come Vladimiro Valerio o, in qualche caso, archivisti, cioè storici del documento: un improvviso risveglio dopo un lungo oblio nonostante che la strada fosse stata tracciata a cavallo tra Ottocento e Novecento da Aldo Blessich. La storia d’Italia non comincia nel 1861 (17 marzo, proclamazione del Regno d’Italia) perché esistevano stati, istituzioni, operatori tecnici e culturali di valore anche prima, e tuttavia la propaganda scolastica sia nei primi decenni post-unitari sia dopo la caduta del fascismo, condusse a convinzioni di fatto anti-meridionali, con lo sminuire l’eccellenza della cartografia napoletana e meridionale. Invece, conosce di recente una “popolarità” nuova, certo meritata, alla quale vogliamo aggiungere questo modesto contributo di approfondimento
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