Gioielli siciliani nelle testimonianze dei viaggiatori inglesi in Sicilia tra XVIII e XIX secolo

Abstract

The attention that is dedicated to the Decorative Arts in the travelers' diaries is much inferior in comparison to that one turned to the archaeology, to the painting or to the sculpture. As far as jewelry is concerned, in particular, the growing admiration for the craftsman's mastery was flanked by the traditional consideration of its splendor as a status symbol and the ancestral conception of precious stones as bearers of particular magical or apotropaic powers. It is, however, natural that the quotations of jewels in the diaries of the Grand Tour are in small numbers compared, for example, to those relating to archaeological ruins, and their collection is the result of targeted research within a vast literature, as mentioned above, often attentive to aspects that have very little to do with these particular artifacts.