Abstract

The paper aims to deepen knowledge about a literary work edited between 1836 and 1847 and still ignored both in historical and historic-artistic studies. The author, Gaetano Giucci, was a typical eclectic figure of the Italian cultural world of the 19th century. Divided in eight volumes, his work about the iconography of the chivalrous and religious orders is part of a literary tradition that began in the 17th century. The most interesting aspect consists in the use destination: the work has been conceived in order to help the artists in their reconstructions of historical episodes that involved defenders and promoters of the Catholic faith. Every order is represented through an accurate description and the respective image created by the artist Nicola Consoni. The last part of the paper is dedicated to the analysis of some images of chivalric orders of the early modern period.