Uomo e «natura» nella tarda antichità: rappresentazione e percezione

Abstract

Men and “Nature” in Late Antiquity: representation and perception The aim of this paper is to inquire into one specific aspect of the relationship between man and nature in Late Antiquity, namely how man observes, perceives, contemplates, eventually appreciates the physical realities of the world, that is the “nature”, in one of the main meanings of this word. Literary and figurative texts from the 4th through the 6th century are considered: among the first Ausonius, Ennodius, Claudianus, Ambrose of Milan, and for the others mosaics (rural, hunting, marine scenes). The analysis points out that if natural elements are a wide and constant presence in the late antique imagery, their representation is normally filtered through rhetorical canons and traditional iconographic formulae, that exclude any immediate representation in words as much as in images. The only exception to this pattern is the Itinerarium Egeriae, where the pilgrim expresses in short but lively sentences her own reaction to the landscapes she is encountering in her trip; this unusual liberty from traditional models accords with the uniqueness of the text, that does not fit in any specific literary genre. Exceptional as it is from this point of view, the Itinerarium is however an important witness of an attention to the physical world and of a sensitivity to its suggestions that were likely widespread, even if they did not have space in the formal culture. [Author]