Roma caput mundi: Rome’s local antiquities as symbol and source

It will consider different antiquarian strategies in Rome adopted during a window of time (from the second half of the fifteenth century into the early sixteenth) when antiquity was open and available, to Romans and non Romans, to the lay nobility, to new men, to Cardinals and literati. A glimpse into the patronage of art, literature, architecture and festival décor by Cardinal Pietro Riario, Cardinal Raffaele Riario, Lorenzo Manlio, and as will be discussed in most detail, the Maffei family from Verona, will emphasize the variety and diversity of approaches to the antique, each re-using the past to establish a new beginning or a moment of the re-foundation of antique glory. Diverse strategies heralded the refoundation of Rome, in a way which vaunted the rise to prominence of a particular patron or family. This is seen by comparing the antiquarian strategies of foreigners and locals, of men of different ranks and with different social roles: those of Cardinals (the Riario), a native Roman (Manlio), and a family of non-native Veronese (the Maffei).