Crowe, Cavalcaselle and the rediscovery of the Middle Ages. The drawings of the National Art Library of London.

The New History of Painting in Italy, written by Joseph Archer Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle and published in London in 1864, reserves much space for medieval art. In the first volume, dedicated to the works created between the 4th and 14th centuries, the two scholars demonstrate that they understand the characteristics of medieval art like no one before them, insisting on the need to analyze the peculiarities of the different centers of artistic production and calling scholars to direct contact with the paintings. The competence and capillarity with which Crowe and Cavalcaselle studied the Middle Ages emerges clearly from the study of their private archives. Here we present a selection of sheets taken from Crowe's left offerings from the National Art Library in London.