Cyriacus of Ancona

Portrait of Cyriacus, fresco, 1459[1]
Portrait of Cyriacus, relief carving[1][2]

Cyriacus of Ancona or Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (31 July 1391 – 1452) was a restlessly itinerant Italian humanist and antiquarian who came from a prominent family of merchants in Ancona, a maritime republic on the Adriatic. He has been called the Father of Archaeology:

"Cyriac of Ancona was the most enterprising and prolific recorder of Greek and Roman antiquities, particularly inscriptions, in the fifteenth century, and the general accuracy of his records entitles him to be called the founding father of modern classical archeology."[3]

  1. ^ a b Diana Gilliland Wright (January 2012). "To Tell You Something Special". Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. ^ Baldelli, Gabriele. "Su due pretesi ritratti anconetani". Cyriaco d'Ancona e la cultura antiquaria dell'Umanesimo: Atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Ancona 6-9 febbraio 1992.
  3. ^ Edward W. Bodnar, Later travels, with Clive Foss - Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN 9780674007581