Un viaggio nei sogni, dalla Preistoria al Rinascimento. Recensione a Homo imaginificus di Marco Paoli (Lucca 2023)

Marco Paoli's Homo imaginificus (Lucca, 2023) is a groundbreaking work on the representation of dreams in art from prehistory to the Renaissance. This encyclopedic volume bridges millennia of artistic traditions, offering a systematic catalog of dream iconography. Paoli's analysis transcends geographical and chronological boundaries, organizing material into four macro-sections: Prehistory, Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. He uncovers recurring iconographic patterns and interpretive frameworks, including the interplay between artistic and literary representations of dreams. The Renaissance section, the largest, illustrates how medieval Christian iconography and rediscovered classical sources reshaped allegorical and profane dream representations. The work establishes a unique dialogue between dream theories and their artistic realizations, enriching our understanding of how philosophical, theological, and literary interpretations influenced visual culture. Paoli's methodological approach makes Homo imaginificus an interesting reference for dream studies in Art History.