In 1725 the aristocrat, soldier, and naturalist from Bologna, Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, published Histoire physique de la mer, a treatise in which provides a detailed description of the marine environment of Provence after having personally observed. Although the book’s main thrust is the “symmetry” between the structure of the earth and the continuity of the mountain ranges at the bottom of the sea, extensive parts of the treatise scientifically describe the vegetation on the seafloor. Marsigli starts by studying the coasts, the morphology of the seabed, the movements of the water, its temperature and salinity; he also describes the way in which he collected his materials, the instruments he used, and the studies he made –all actions that allowed him to perform an in-depth analysis of the plants and corals. The numerous illustrations (forty tables) in the treatise describe the marine vegetation showing the specimens studied on different scales. Each table includes a general image and details of every sample, and sections of the inside of the organisms. The marine plants are divided into “soft”, “woody” and “pierreuses”. The latter, including corals and madrepores, are the key focus of the book, i.e., the plants he concentrates on more in both the illustrations and textual descriptions. In effect, coral became very popular in the eighteenth century; it was harvested and processed for both ornamental and medical purposes. Marsigli still believed it to be a vegetal essence. Marsigli’s scientific approach and his relationship with the illustrations in the text are part of a trend: Hooke’s Micrographia and Grew’s The Anatomy of Plants are fundamental references, as are the approach adopted first by Aldrovandi and then Malpighi, formerly active in Bologna.
Nel 1725 Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, nobile, militare e naturalista bolognese, pubblica l’Histoire physique de la mer, trattato in cui raccoglie una descrizione dettagliata dell’ambiente marino in Provenza, frutto di osservazioni dirette. Se lo scopo primo del volume quello di mostrare la “simmetria” esistente nella struttura della Terra e la continuit dei rilievi montuosi nelle profondit marine, ampia parte del trattato rivolta alla descrizione scientifica della vegetazione presente nei fondali. Marsigli parte dallo studio delle coste, della morfologia del fondo marino, dei movimenti dell’acqua e delle sue caratteristiche di temperatura e salinit per arrivare, attraverso la descrizione della fase di raccolta dei materiali, degli strumenti utilizzati e delle indagini condotte, a un’approfondita analisi di piante e coralli. Il trattato corredato da un importante apparato illustrativo e raccoglie la descrizione della vegetazione marina in quaranta tavole che descrivono gli esemplari studiati a diverse scale, con immagini di insieme e particolari di ogni campione e con sezioni che mostrano l’interno degli organismi indagati. Le piante marine sono divise in “molli”, “legnose” e “pierreuses”. Queste ultime comprendono coralli e madrepore e costituiscono il nucleo centrale dell’opera, quello al quale maggiormente rivolta l’attenzione dell’autore sia nel testo che nelle illustrazioni. Il Settecento, d’altronde, il secolo in cui il corallo trova grande diffusione e si sviluppano sia la pesca che la lavorazione a fini ornamentali e medici di quella che Marsigli ritiene ancora un’essenza vegetale. L’approccio scientifico di Marsigli e il suo rapporto con le illustrazioni a corredo del testo si inseriscono in un solco che vede nella Micrographia di Hooke e nel The Anatomy of Plants di Grew un riferimento imprescindibile e nell’approccio di Aldrovandi prima e di Malpighi poi due precedenti diretti in ambito bolognese.
Descrivere il mare. Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli e l’immagine scientifica / Carlevaris, L.. - (2020), pp. 196-231. - LINGUAGGI GRAFICI.
Descrivere il mare. Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli e l’immagine scientifica
L. CARLEVARIS
Primo
2020
Abstract
In 1725 the aristocrat, soldier, and naturalist from Bologna, Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli, published Histoire physique de la mer, a treatise in which provides a detailed description of the marine environment of Provence after having personally observed. Although the book’s main thrust is the “symmetry” between the structure of the earth and the continuity of the mountain ranges at the bottom of the sea, extensive parts of the treatise scientifically describe the vegetation on the seafloor. Marsigli starts by studying the coasts, the morphology of the seabed, the movements of the water, its temperature and salinity; he also describes the way in which he collected his materials, the instruments he used, and the studies he made –all actions that allowed him to perform an in-depth analysis of the plants and corals. The numerous illustrations (forty tables) in the treatise describe the marine vegetation showing the specimens studied on different scales. Each table includes a general image and details of every sample, and sections of the inside of the organisms. The marine plants are divided into “soft”, “woody” and “pierreuses”. The latter, including corals and madrepores, are the key focus of the book, i.e., the plants he concentrates on more in both the illustrations and textual descriptions. In effect, coral became very popular in the eighteenth century; it was harvested and processed for both ornamental and medical purposes. Marsigli still believed it to be a vegetal essence. Marsigli’s scientific approach and his relationship with the illustrations in the text are part of a trend: Hooke’s Micrographia and Grew’s The Anatomy of Plants are fundamental references, as are the approach adopted first by Aldrovandi and then Malpighi, formerly active in Bologna.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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