Alla ricerca del pittoresco. Il primo viaggio di Ruskin a Roma

This paper maps the Roman sites visited and illustrated by John Ruskin during his first trip to Rome (1840-41) and mentioned in his diary, in order to investigate on the multiple interests he was pursuing as a young artist. Often sick and weak, the 21 years-old did not suffer the charm of the eternal city and found the picturesque places he was looking for in the Fontana di Trevi as well as in S. Maria del Pianto, at the gates of the Jewish Ghetto. By adopting Ruskin’s words and drawings as both an historical document and an artwork, the authors discuss about his evolution from artist to scholar and divulgator and propose some application of Virtual Heritage through digital photography useful to enquiry his gaze onto the eternal city as well to reconstruct the aspect the sites Ruskin was engaged in had at the time of his visit.