L’Edizione nazionale del De prospectiva pingendi: un approccio filologico ai disegni del trattato. The National Edition of De Prospective Pingendi: a Philological Approach to the Drawings in the Treatise

The monumental editorial initiative to publish a National Edition of De prospectiva pingendi by Piero della Francesca (Sansepolcro c. 1410-1492) has recently been completed. The initiative is sponsored by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MiBACT) and the Fondazione Piero della Francesca [1]. The book, published by the State Mint and Polygraphic Institute, is the third volume in the epic series –the National Edition of Writings by Piero della Francesca– established by Presidential Decree 26.2.1974 and initiated in 1985. The critical edition of De prospectiva pingendi by Giusta Nicco Fasola was published in 1942. Although it is undoubtedly an important critique, the author did not consider all available texts, in other words he did not compare the many versions of the manuscript, some in the vulgate, and others in Latin. Instead linguists are interested in Piero’s writings precisely because of the peculiarities of the language he uses: a Tuscan vernacular, very different to Florentine, and with Umbrian nuances. In 1984 an anastatic copy of Nicco Fasola’s edition was reprinted: it includes several critical essays. One year later the need for a philological approach led to renewed study on the manuscripts written by the painter and treatise writer from Sansepolcro. The initial results of these new studies was the publication of the Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus in 1995. The Ministry nominated Cecil Grayson, who had edited the vulgate texts written by Leon Battista Alberti [Alberti 1960-1973], as chair of the scientific commission. He was later as chair replaced by another member of the commission, Marisa Dalai Emiliani, currently assisted by two co-chairs: Ottavio Besomi and Carlo Maccagni. Every National Edition is a meticulous, Herculean, and undeniably scientific task: each one is an extremely interesting national endeavour backed by a substantial financial investment, but it is also and above all pregnant with expectations. The MiBACT website contains the following paragraph: “National Editions satisfy the basic scientific need to ensure the protection, enhancement and fruition of our literary heritage and philosophy, as embodied by the written texts of Italian authors: in fact, these initiatives guarantee the publication of the opera omnia of an author (or, in some cases, the most important works of a group of authors) in editions based on the identification and critical transcription of all pertinent manuscripts. They propose all the published and unpublished texts of an author and use all available documentation to clarify the history and structure of the texts”.

Si è recentemente conclusa l’imponente opera editoriale relativa all’Edizione nazionale del De prospectiva pingendi di Piero della Francesca (Sansepolcro 1410 ca.-1492), promossa dal Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo (MiBACT) e dalla Fondazione Piero della Francesca. L’opera, edita dall’istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, costituisce il terzo lavoro portato a compimento di quel grande progetto che è l’Edizione nazionale degli Scritti di Piero della Francesca. Nel 1942 era uscita l’edizione critica del De prospectiva pingendi di Giusta Nicco Fasola, lavoro certamente importante ma che non teneva conto di tutti i testimoni esistenti, ovvero del confronto tra le molte versioni del manoscritto, alcune in volgare, altre in latino, mentre l’interesse dei linguisti per gli scritti di Piero era legato proprio alla peculiarità della lingua da lui utilizzata, un toscano distante dal fiorentino con sfumature umbre. L’esigenza di un approccio filologico ha portato nel 1985, alla ripresa del lavoro sui testi del pittore e trattatista burgense e nel 1995 si è avuto il primo esito delle ricerche con la pubblicazione del Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus. Ogni Edizione nazionale affronta un lavoro ciclopico, meticoloso e di indiscusso contenuto scientifico: un lavoro di elevatissimo interesse nazionale frutto di un importante investimento pubblico in termini di risorse ma, soprattutto, di attese.