Filellenismo e antiquaria nel Rinascimento: Antonio Galateo e le antichità salentine nel contesto degli studi di greco nel Regno di Napoli

Philhellenism and antiquarianism in the Renaissance: Antonio Galateo and the Salento antiquities in the context of the Greek studies in the Kingdom of Naples · The article is devoted to Antonio de Ferrariis Galateo’s De situ Iapygiae, in particular how, in this work, the antiquarian method and the direct observation of local antiquities operate in the service of the ideal of superiority of Hellenic culture professed in the work. More specifically, the contribution questions how this marriage of antiquarianism and philhellenism should be interpreted in light of the interest in Greek in the Kingdom of Naples and the development of antiquarian studies. After a state of the art on these issues, the contribution sets out Galateo’s position starting with the emblematic case of the treatment of the city of Lecce and its antiquities in De situ Iapygiae. In the light of this brief analysis, the elements of continuity and discontinuity with respect to Neapolitan humanism of the late Aragonese age will be highlighted.