El mapa de Chile y el plano de Santiago en la obra atribuida a Juan Ignacio Molina de 1776: los manuscritos perdidos

Included in the work “Compendio della Storia geografica, naturale e civile del Regno del Chile”, published anonymously in 1776 by the then ex-Jesuit Juan Ignacio Molina, were several maps, plans, and engravings. Although attributed to Molina, the illustrations, and specifically a map of Chile and a plan of the city of Santiago, were signed by Giovanni Fabbri. The reason for attributing them to Molina, despite his not being a cartographer, is due to his likely being the intellectual author of the work and coincides with his knowledge of the represented areas. As a result, the name of the artist, Fabbri, who had never been in Chile, receded into the background. However, a recent discovery of additional manuscripts has revealed that the aforementioned illustrations were created by a diff erent artist, Giussepe Mancini, who was able to depict both the territory of the government and its capital, following the instructions of the Chilean priest. That is to say, Molina entrusted the science of cartography to the portrayal and imagination of an intellectual who remembered his homeland from exile. En la obra “Compendio della Storia geografica, naturale e civile del Regno del Chile” publicada en 1776 en forma anónima por el entonces ex jesuita Juan Ignacio Molina, se adjuntaron algunos mapas, planos y grabados, todos firmados por Giovanni Fabbri aunque atribuidos a Molina, en específico, un mapa de Chile, y un plano de la ciudad de Santiago. La razón de la atribución de Molina pese a no ser cartógrafo, se debe a que pudo ser el creador intelectual, coincidente por su condición de conocedor del espacio descrito, por lo que el nombre de artista, Fabbri, quien nunca estuvo en Chile, pasó a segundo plano. Sin embargo, un reciente hallazgo de nuevos manuscritos, permite descubrir que las referidas piezas, fueran realizadas por otro artista, Giussepe Mancini, quien supo representar tanto el territorio de la gobernación, así como su capital, siguiendo las instrucciones del sacerdote chileno, es decir, puso la ciencia cartográfica al servicio de la representación e imaginario de un intelectual que recordada su patria desde el exilio.