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Restoro d'Arezzo

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RistoroorRestoro d'Arezzowas an Italianmonkandscientistof theMiddle Ages,author of an important prose treatise in the vernacular,La composizione del mondo colle sue cascioni.[1]The Italian scholarEnrico Narduccicalls him the 'Humboldt' of the thirteenth century.[2]

Life and works[edit]

"Libellus des Sphaera" of Johannes of Sacrobbosco. Printed in Wittenberg 1542.

Restoro was born inArezzo,Tuscany,at an unknown date in the first decades of the thirteenth century.[3]Very little is known about his life. He himself states that he wrote his book in aconventat Arezzo;[4]that he was an artist and a painter ofminiatures,and that he lived in the second half of the thirteenth century. In 1282 he completed an elaborate treatise oncosmography,Della composizione del mondo colle sue cascioni[The composition of the world with its causes].[5]It was the first scientific treatise to be written in anItalianvernacular (Arezzo dialect).[6]Ristoro gives an exhaustive account of theAristotelian sciencethat was taught in theUniversitiesat that time.[7]He deals withAstronomyandAstrology(which are one-and-the-same for Restoro, as indeed they were for most people at that time),Meteorology,GeographyandNatural History(together with numerous observations in merit which derive from the areas around Arezzo andSiena), drawing widely on Aristotle andPtolemy,on Arab texts and Medieval authors, including for exampleAlbertus MagnusandJohannes de Sacrobosco.Restoro discusses also the structure of the world and develops some soundgeologicaltheories despite his strong leanings towardastrology.Writing on the origin of mountains, for example, while he attributed the elevation of dry land above the sea to attraction by the stars, he also recognised other influences, such as watererosion,sea waves throwing up sand andgravel,subsequent floods depositingsediment,earthquakes,calcareous deposits from certain waters, and the activities of man. Following the view ofEmpedocles,he maintained that the Earth had a molten centre and thatvolcanoeserupted through the rise of molten rock to the surface.[8]Skilled in drawing and painting, Ristoro displayed a keen interest in ancient arts and culture; he dedicated a chapter of his massive work to ancientEtruscanandRomanware discovered in his native city, showing refined appreciation of their depiction of the natural world at a time when others did not value archaeological remains.[9]

Restoro's knowledge derived in part fromLatintranslations ofArabicwritings of the first half of the ninth century. He usedAl-FarghaniandSahl ibn Bishr,probably alsoAbu Ma'shar al-BalkhiandArtephius.He also knew wellAristotle'sDe coelo et mundoandDe meteorisandIsidore of Seville'sEtymologiae.[10]He may have had some slight contact withAvicenna'sQānūn,and withAverroes' commentary on Aristotelian meteorology.[5]Ristoro recommended avoidance of resorting tomiraclesin explaining natural phenomena, echoing bothWilliam of ConchesandAlbertus Magnus.[11]

The greater part of Restoro's work is the result of his own scientific observations. These observations, well calculated and analysed in a pure and elaborated style, make the book much superior to all the other scientific treatises of the thirteenth century.[12]His fine description of the total eclipse of the Sun on 3 June 1239 is one of the most detailed and precise accounts of asolar eclipsebefore the eighteenth century.[13][14]

Restoro's Treatise remained unpublished until the nineteenth century. We know, however, thatLeon Battista AlbertiandLeonardo da Vinciwere familiar with Ristoro's work.[15]Dante's acquaintance with Restoro has not been definitely proved, but is regarded by competent authorities as highly probable.[16][17]Paul of Venice'sDe compositione mundiis mostly an abridged translation intoLatinof Restoro's Treatise.[18]

References[edit]

  • Restoro d'Arezzo. Narducci, Enrico (ed.).Della composizione del mondo, testo italiano del 1282.Rome, 1859; Milan, 1864.
  • Amalfi, Gaetano, ed. (1888).Il primo libro della Composizione del mondo di Ristoro d'Arezzo.Naples: G.M. Priore.
  • Restoro d'Arezzo (2006). Morino, Alberto (ed.).La composizione del mondo.Lavis: La Finestra editrice.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Usher 2002.
  2. ^Restoro d'Arezzo (1864). Narducci, Enrico (ed.).Della composizione del mondo, testo italiano del 1282.Milan: G. Daelli. p. VI.
  3. ^Gregori & Gregori 1997,p. 348.
  4. ^e stando noi nella città d'Arezzo, nella quale noi fummo nato et nella quale noi facemmo questo libro nel convento nostro.
  5. ^abSarton, George(1927).Introduction to the History of Science.Vol. 2.Carnegie Institution of Washington.p. 928.
  6. ^Dal Prete, Ivano (2022).On the Edge of Eternity: The Antiquity of the Earth in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.Oxford University Press.p. 69.
  7. ^Gregori & Gregori 1997,p. 315.
  8. ^Rickard, David (2015).Pyrite. A Natural History of Fool's Gold.Oxford University Press.p. 128.ISBN9780190203689.
  9. ^Pesic 2005,p. 26.
  10. ^Bertoni, Giulio (1960).Il Duecento.Francesco Vallardi. p. 391.
  11. ^Scott, Giulio; Alderton, David (2020).Encyclopedia of Geology.Elsevier Science.p. 8.ISBN9780081029091.
  12. ^Grillo, Ernesto, ed. (1920).Early Italian Literature.Vol. 2. London:Blackie and Son.p. xxxv.
  13. ^Stephenson 1984,p. 27.
  14. ^Pesic 2005,p. 27.
  15. ^Lützelschwab, Ralf (2020). "Ristoro d'Arezzo".Medieval Studies.doi:10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0278.ISBN978-0-19-539658-4.
  16. ^Eastman 1907,p. 87.
  17. ^Grandgent, Charles Hall;Singleton, Charles S.,eds. (1975).Companion to the Divine Comedy.Harvard University Press.p. 12.
  18. ^Duhem, Pierre.Le Système du monde...: IV, 209-210; Duhem, Pierre.Ètudes sur Lèonard de Vinci: Ceux qu’il a lus et ceux que l’ont lu.Paris: Éditions des archives contemporaines, 1984: I, 325.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

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