Paolo Beni’s Trattato della Memoria Locale and Applied Mnemonics

Abstract

The essay aims at analyzing the manuscript Trattato della Memoria Locale by Paolo Beni (1552-1625), which tested the classical mnemotechnic rules in the architectural structure of Santa Giustina’s church in Padua. By showing us a logical mental way to represent our memories through the introjections of an artificial external order, the treatise also implicitly suggests a way to analyze a real architectural space and the iconic-plastic elements that it contains, e.g. the precious and impressive wooden choir of the fifteenth century composed of two series of stalls with illustrated backs: the scenes of Jesus’ life in the upper side are semantically and mnemonically linked to the underlying emblems of Virtues and Vices.