Plinio e le arti nel XVIII secolo: fra riletture della Naturalis Historia e invenzioni iconografiche al femminile

The 18th century is characterized, on the archaeological and artistic fronts, by a substantial European success of the Naturalis Historia, but also by the questioning of some of the statements contained in Pliny’s encyclopedia, especially with regard to the primacy of Classical Age painting, after the dis- covery of the cycles of Pompeii and Herculaneum. But the interest in the text is also conveyed by the diffusion of the different figurative interpretations of the myth of the Origin of Painting, connected to the creativity and ability of a young woman, the daughter of the potter Butades of Sicyon, contextual to the affirmation of the role of female artistic creativity. In this context, the position of one of the most famous artists of the last quarter of the 18th century stands out, Angelica Kauffmann, deeply linked to the city of Como since childhood.