Page 73 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 73
Italian Technical Literature in the Field of Architectural Restoration:
The case study of the Historic Memories about the Vatican Church by Giovanni Poleni
By: Alessia Bianco
Abstract
This paper intends to provide a theoretical, methodological and applicative contribution to the debate about strategies for the
divulgation of the Italian technical literature of the eighteenth century in English-speaking countries with attention on the Italian universities
and cultural institutions of the time. The paper contains a survey of the historical bibliography of contemporary translations of non-
technical treatises of architecture in the English language and it proceeds to draw up a set of guidelines (decalogue) of different recently
proposed methodologies and strategies. It describes the selection of the treatise to translate, relevant to the context and authoritative
knowledge in the European scientific background of the eighteenth century; it continues by proposing a synopsis of the original text
in the Italian modern language, a strategy used in order to make historical technical treatises accessible to the contemporary scientific
Italian language. Approaches and strategies are experimented in the case study of “Historic Memories about the Great Dome of the
Vatican Church” (Le Memorie Istoriche della Gran Cupola Vaticana) by Giovanni Poleni, one in the most authoritative scholars of the
eighteenth century Europe.
Keywords
Dome; S. Peter Church-Rome; Giovanni Poleni; Restoration; Retrofitting; Mechanics.
1. Introduction
The subject of this paper is primarily related to the translation and dissemination of Italian historical technical- scientific literature into
modern English for the English-speaking countries. The intention is to make partly methodological and partly applicative contributions
to the scientific debate about the criteria, methods and techniques of translation of the historical architectural literature, with the dual
purpose of spreading the wealth of knowledge and techniques, in order to value both the Italian and English languages in their
historical evolution. This represents one of the reasons why the study in question is mainly centred in the Age of Enlightenment that,
specifically for Italy, is particularly interesting and dense both in terms of linguistic peculiarities, as well as in the contributions
that Italy offered to the scientific and academic community in Europe in the field of medicine, agronomy and also in the sciences
applied to architecture, nowadays more generally referred as the Science of Construction. The application of the research partly focuses
on the scientific production of one of the most influential scholars of the time, Giovanni Poleni, known not only for his vast disciplinary
interests, ranging from astronomy to archaeology and from medicine to mechanics, but also for his strong reputation in the academic
European context. The purpose of the translation in English is to preserve the literary, expressive, formal and aesthetic content of the
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 73
The case study of the Historic Memories about the Vatican Church by Giovanni Poleni
By: Alessia Bianco
Abstract
This paper intends to provide a theoretical, methodological and applicative contribution to the debate about strategies for the
divulgation of the Italian technical literature of the eighteenth century in English-speaking countries with attention on the Italian universities
and cultural institutions of the time. The paper contains a survey of the historical bibliography of contemporary translations of non-
technical treatises of architecture in the English language and it proceeds to draw up a set of guidelines (decalogue) of different recently
proposed methodologies and strategies. It describes the selection of the treatise to translate, relevant to the context and authoritative
knowledge in the European scientific background of the eighteenth century; it continues by proposing a synopsis of the original text
in the Italian modern language, a strategy used in order to make historical technical treatises accessible to the contemporary scientific
Italian language. Approaches and strategies are experimented in the case study of “Historic Memories about the Great Dome of the
Vatican Church” (Le Memorie Istoriche della Gran Cupola Vaticana) by Giovanni Poleni, one in the most authoritative scholars of the
eighteenth century Europe.
Keywords
Dome; S. Peter Church-Rome; Giovanni Poleni; Restoration; Retrofitting; Mechanics.
1. Introduction
The subject of this paper is primarily related to the translation and dissemination of Italian historical technical- scientific literature into
modern English for the English-speaking countries. The intention is to make partly methodological and partly applicative contributions
to the scientific debate about the criteria, methods and techniques of translation of the historical architectural literature, with the dual
purpose of spreading the wealth of knowledge and techniques, in order to value both the Italian and English languages in their
historical evolution. This represents one of the reasons why the study in question is mainly centred in the Age of Enlightenment that,
specifically for Italy, is particularly interesting and dense both in terms of linguistic peculiarities, as well as in the contributions
that Italy offered to the scientific and academic community in Europe in the field of medicine, agronomy and also in the sciences
applied to architecture, nowadays more generally referred as the Science of Construction. The application of the research partly focuses
on the scientific production of one of the most influential scholars of the time, Giovanni Poleni, known not only for his vast disciplinary
interests, ranging from astronomy to archaeology and from medicine to mechanics, but also for his strong reputation in the academic
European context. The purpose of the translation in English is to preserve the literary, expressive, formal and aesthetic content of the
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 73
