Charles de Brosses (1709-1777), Lettres historiques et critiques sur l’Italie (1739/1740)

Born into an aristocratic family in Dijon, Charles de Brosses studied law and was later appointed the president of the parliament in his hometown. As a scholar and philosopher, he had many interests, such as history, philology and linguistics. De Brosses mostly stayed in Dijon and its surrounds during his lifetime, but between 1739 and…Continue reading

Luc-Joseph van der Vynckt (1691-1779), Voyage en Italie de trois gentilshommes flamands (1724)

Van der Vynckt was born in Ghent and studied law at the university of Louvain. He then traveled to France, Italy, and Germany. On his return, he was appointed a member of the council of Flanders in 1729. He devoted himself to studying the history of the Flemish region and the Netherlands and published several…Continue reading

Jean-Baptiste Labat (1663-1738), Voyages du Père Labat (1730)

A Dominican priest and missionary, Jean-Baptiste Labat was born in 1663. After teaching philosophy for some years, in 1693 Labat obtained permission from the Dominican order to depart for the French West Indies. He first sailed to Martinique, and in the parish of Macouba he oversaw the building of a new church. In the next…Continue reading

Charles-Louis de Montesquieu (1689-1755), Voyage en Italie (c. 1730)

Charles-Louis de Montesquieu, better known today as a political philosopher, was also a judge and a writer. Besides practicing the law, he devoted himself to studying and writing. By the 1720s, he became an established writer and thinker, and in 1728 he embarked on a grand tour of Europe. Voyage en Italie was written in…Continue reading

Henry de Rogissart, Les Délices de l’Italie (1707)

Giuseppe Martini, Theatrum Basilicae pisanae (1705)

Giuseppe Martini provides an extensive description of the Camposanto. His Theatrum Basilicae Pisanae was published in 1705 in Rome. He talks not only about the architecture but also about the paintings and the tombs. There are four chapters dealing with the Camposanto. The first is about the location and the exterior view of the cemetery.…Continue reading

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