Retorica figurata e nuovi spazi politici in età podestarile. Appunti per una ricerca

In the first decades of the 13th century, figurative languages were developed in several central and northern Italy municipalities to represent the rectores in the public spaces of power. Such political lexicons in images deserve to be mapped and studied, using a comparative approach, not only from an art-historical point of view, but also and above all considering the “potestative” languages of the ruling elite, i. e., as instruments communicating power and codes of personal and collective memory. Like many other sources, places and spaces represent a seismograph of changes in urban societies, since the new self-representation needs of political elites are reflected in them. The rhetoric of power was based on a ‘marking of the city’ by the exponents of urban powers. The historian can measure this in terms of communication, persuasion, intimidation, or propaganda – either implicit or explicit. The essay presents an initial consideration of the question from the comparative analysis of some case studies.