Itinerario Istruttivo

Diviso in Otto Giornate

Per ritrovare con facilita tutte le Antiche, e Moderne Magnificenze di Roma

Instructive Itinerary - Divided into Eight Days

To find with ease all of the ancient and modern marvels of Rome

Giuseppe Vasi

Itinerario Istruttivo Diviso in Otto Giornate..., was initially published by Giuseppe Vasi in 1763 and later in 1773 and 1777. This 584 page guidebook to Rome can be viewed as a supplement to Vasi’s earlier work Delle Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna. The initial publication is a large-format, 10 volume set of vedute published between 1747 and 1761. The Itinerario is a pocket sized volume with small scale rametti engravings and lengthy aesthetic and historical descriptions of the monuments of Rome. Its intended audience was both young, aristocratic males who were participants of the Grand Tour and learned Christian pilgrims. Together these works represent an encyclopedic project with the aim of a comprehensive visual and textual description of Rome’s sights. Vasi’s works celebrate the integration and evolution of ancient and modern Rome, and the scenes and text define the daily life of the contemporary city and show the historical and cultural identity of eighteenth-century Rome. By presenting monuments within the context of their urban environment, Vasi is making an argument for the continuity of the city and its continued artistic achievements; this is in contrast to many of his contemporaries who showed monuments as isolated artifacts that described the glory of ancient Rome. Vasi understands Rome as an amalgamation of the city’s Christian and classical histories, and he presents this understanding both visually and textually in his guidebook to the Eternal City.