Il Raffaello di Marco Minghetti tra critica, polemica e retorica del centenario 1883-1885

The publication in 1885 of the Raphaelesque monograph written by the Bolognese politician and statesman Marco Minghetti gave rise to a large number of negative or controversial reviews. The attention of some detractors certainly focused on the structure and contents of the volume, on the inaccuracies and naivety that characterized some pages, but in perspective it extended to a criticism against Giovanni Morelli, famous connoisseur and Minghetti's close friend, and his controversial experimental method. Some papers survive documenting Minghetti's ‘Morellian’ training, the making of his monograph, the connection with Raphaelesque celebrations in 1883 and with events and episodes in the art market. Today these archival materials allow to open a window on a not secondary conjuncture in late-19th-century Italian culture.