Il tardoantico sottoposto a censura: le rappresentazioni dell'arco di Costantino tra Quattro e Cinquecento

I propose a re-reading of several representations of the arch of Constantine in 15th and 16th century paintings, drawings, and engravings. All of them portray exactly the sculptural spolia embedded in the arch, yet they 'correct' or remove the sculptures dating from the Constantinian era. I argue that the criticism on this arch that Raphael expresses in his letter to Pope Leo X is not something new, but depends on verbally unexpressed opinions by preceding artists – such as Mantegna, Botticelli, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Francesco di Giorgio, and others – who have reproduced the arch in their works. From Raphael's judgement on Constantine arch, later quoted by Vasari in his Foreword to the Vite, takes origin a negative bias that will influence following artists and critics: from Palladio to Piranesi they will continue to 'correct' its Constantinian sculptures; finally the prejudice extends to all artistic expressions from the late antiquity, which culminates in the modern interpretation of the arch by Berenson.