Project Description and Objectives 

The project aims to conduct a systematic analysis of the forms of interaction between text and image in Latin culture and its reception, from Antiquity to the 20th century. In addition to offering an innovative contribution to the field of classical studies, the project seeks to promote and enhance the cultural, textual, and material heritage of Rome through research, cataloguing, digitisation, and dissemination activities, in accordance with the aims of PNRR Mission 1, the Horizon Europe 2021–2027 Programme, and the PNR 2021–2027.  The research is articulated into three closely interconnected and complementary lines:  

1. LoR1 – From Images to Texts: This line applies the methodologies of intermediality and transmediality studies to Latin antiquity in innovative ways, with the aim of developing new tools to reconstruct lost literary texts from iconographic sources and to analyse the strategies of visualisation that characterise Roman rhetorical and poetic production.  
2. LoR2 – Texts for Images:  This line investigates the interaction between the visual and written dimensions in the textual genres most closely tied to the relationship between text, image, and monument – namely literary and inscriptional epigrams and epigraphs – from Martial to Late Antiquity.  
3. LoR3 – From Texts to Images:   This line examines the iconographic reception of Latin authors, from medieval illuminated manuscripts to contemporary artists’ books, focusing on selected genres and authors (Terence, Livy, didactic literature, Apuleius) to understand how the visual tension inherent in Latin literature has been reinterpreted by artists and illustrators.  

The project promotes interdisciplinary and intermedial approaches across philology, archaeology, and epigraphy. It aims not only to advance scholarly understanding of the interactions between Latin texts and visual culture – producing new editions, commentaries, and specialised studies – but also to disseminate Rome’s cultural heritage among broader audiences, particularly younger generations.  

University Partners  

• Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Geografiche e dell’Antichità, University of Padua – PI Francesco Lubian (National Coordinator);  
• Dipartimento di Ricerca e Innovazione Umanistica, University of Bari – Associate PI Antonio Stramaglia;  
• Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Italianistica, University of Bologna – Associate PI Daniele Pellacani;  
• Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia e Storia, University of Genoa – Associate PI Biagio Santorelli;  
• Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, University of Roma ‘La Sapienza’ – Associate PI Andrea Cucchiarelli.  

Expected Results  

• Development of innovative methodologies for reconstructing lost Latin literary texts from iconographic evidence.
• A systematic and comparative framework for analysing interactions between visual and textual dimensions in epigrams, epigraphs, and related genres.
• New insights into the reception of Latin literature in visual media from the Middle Ages to the present.
• Production of new critical editions, commentaries, and specialised publications based on interdisciplinary and intermedial research.
• Enhancement and promotion of Rome’s cultural, textual, and material heritage through digitisation, cataloguing, and outreach initiatives.
• Creation of digital resources (databases, digital exhibitions) that make manuscript and printed materials more accessible.
• Strengthening collaboration among Italian universities and fostering interdepartmental research.
• Increased public engagement, especially among younger generations, through dissemination events and digital tools.  

Results Achieved  

• Organisation of dissemination events, including the workshop Lo sguardo e la parola: testi, immagini e loro interazioni in Roma antica (18 February 2025, Rome “La Sapienza”) and the final PRIN 2022 PNRR conference (8-9 October 2025, University of Padua).
• Successful integration of traditional scholarship with digitisation initiatives aimed at enhancing manuscript and printed book heritage.
• Creation of digital exhibitions and accessible online resources, such as:the Digital Exhibition on the contemporary artist’s book (https://exhibits.ficlit.unibo.it/s/per-imagines/item-set/8308);  the digitisation of Nina Nasilli’s artist’s book Dittochaeon: la saga dell’acqua e del sangue, containing the Latin text of Prudentius’ tituli historiarum, available on PHAIDRA (https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/detail/o:546809).
• Strengthened interdisciplinary collaboration across participating universities, enabling progress in analysing the relationships between Latin texts and visual culture.
• Advancement in research outcomes that contribute to new editions, commentaries, and scholarly studies resulting from the project’s intermedial and interdisciplinary approach.