The Spread of Descriptive Geometry in Great Britain Between the XVIII and XIX Century

Stefano Chiarenza

doi:10.26375/disegno.3.2018.8

Autori

Stefano Chiarenza Dipartimento di Promozione delle Scienze Umane e della Qualità della Vita, Università San Raffaele Roma

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26375/disegno.3.2018.8

Parole chiave:

disegno geometrico, Inghilterra, proiezioni, Monge, Nicholson

Abstract

Tra il XVIII e il XIX secolo la diffusione della Geometria descrittiva di Monge in Europa determina, con tempi ed esiti diversi nei vari paesi, un cambiamento radicale nel campo della rappresentazione. Essa modifica non solo l’approccio al disegno ma anche, e in maniera sostanziale, l’istruzione professionale.
In Gran Bretagna, tuttavia, la nuova scienza, per motivi sia politici che spiccatamente culturali, approda ufficialmente con grande ritardo. La sua circolazione tra professionisti, artigiani e disegnatori, attestata però ben prima, la vede innestarsi su una serie di esperienze di ricerca autonome, alimentando altresì i tentativi, da parte dei teorici dell’isola, di definire un sistema universale di comunicazione grafica.
Il presente studio, attraverso una rivisitazione di ricerche sulla storia della rappresentazione relative a quest’epoca e la raccolta di fonti documentali, intende offrire una sistematica ricostruzione della diffusione della geometria descrittiva in Gran Bretagna, contestualizzandola nel clima socio-politico del tempo e intrecciando le nuove istanze del metodo mongiano con le originali ricerche condotte oltre Manica in quegli anni.

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