«Ai tempi di Cimabue non era sì barbara in Lombardia, quanto Vasari la vuol far credere, l’arte della pittura» Prime tracce di ‘primitivi’ negli scritti di Carlo Amoretti

Among the least investigated personalities of milanese erudition between 18th and 19th century, we find Carlo Amoretti (1741-1816): polygraph, naturalist, Winckelmann’s first Italian translator Leonardo scholar as prefect Ambrosiana Library. Starting from manuscripts kept at Istituto Lombardo – Accademia di Scienze e Lettere in Milan, this paper aims to shed a light on observations around 14th 15th century artworks Lombard territory. In particular, his travel diaries provide unpublished insights into debate medieval proto-Renaissance art that involved some leading antiquarians with whom himself was contact: Giuseppe Bossi Seroux d’Agincourt, Tommaso degli Obizzi Stefano Borgia.