Giovanni Giustino Ciampini

Who was Giovanni Giustino Ciampini?

Giovanni Giustino Ciampini was an ecclesiastical archaeologist. He graduated from the University of Rome as a student of law but soon devoted himself to archaeological interests, which an important office in the Apostolic Chancery permitted him to pursue. He devoted himself to the collection of books, coins, and statues, and to the creation of scientific circles for the development of antiquarian learning; thus he founded, in 1671, a society for ecclesiastical history and, in 1679, an academy of the sciences, the latter under the patronage of his friend, Queen Christina of Sweden.

He continued the school of archaeological research begun by Onofrio Panvinio and Antonio Bosio, and carried on a smaller scale by Fabretti, Boldetti, and Bottari, and later Padre Alarchi and Giovanni Battista De Rossi. Apart from some minor archaeological studies, he has left two illustrated works, one a history of the ancient churches East and West, built by Constantine the Great, and the other a history of the art of mosaic. Both works contain good illustrations of many ancient Christian edifices and mosaics that have since perished or suffered change and deterioration.