Protecting antiquities in early modern Rome: the papal edicts as paradigms for the heritage safeguard in Europe

The edicts issued in Rome between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries are the earliest legislation conceived for the preservation and supervision of heritage in Europe. Not only did such regulations aim to protect monuments, antiquities, and – at a later stage – paintings from the risks of damage and deterioration, but also established a legal framework against their illegal exportation and excavation. In this study the gradual development of this vast corpus of legislation is considered within the variations of artistic scholarship, legal knowledge, artistic taste, and the art market in Europe between 1400s and 1700s. The mutual implications of juridical constructs and practices of supervision are evaluated together with interdisciplinary factors – such as the rise of collections and museums – to shed light on the development of the concepts of ‘heritage protection’ in early modern Rome. Specific analysis will also involve the gradual expansion of the definition of ‘antiquity’ and ‘artefact’ in papal legislation, as well as the establishment of innovative instruments to prevent and circumvent misdemeanours. One final consideration is given to the launch of local procedures of heritage protection in other states in Europe. Considering the cultural and historical backgrounds of each individual place, this study will demonstrate that the idea of safeguarding what was thought of as ‘collective heritage’ emerged consistently in eighteenth-century Europe following the paradigms of the papal edicts.