Indole of Education: the Apologhi immaginati of Carlo Lodoli
getty Born in Venice, Lodoli had been educated as a Franciscan in Dalmatia and then traveled the Italian peninsula until he returned to Venice in 1720 as a well respected tutor of young patricians—that is, future leaders whom the Republic guaranteed an education regardless of their often-precarious financial situations. Lodoli’s scuola di conversazione, as the lessons were named, took place on walks through the city and within the garden of San Francesco della Vigna. His approach was not necessarily professional: he did not instruct his students in the methods of drawing or techniques of construction. Rather, by questioning the nature of truth and materials, one might discover the meaning of architecture. While the majority of scholarship on Lodoli tends to focus on his discussions of the nature of materials, little has been written on his teaching methods. This essay examines one of the more unique attributes of his pedagogy: his use of the word indole to refer to the inherent disposition of his students. The intention is to flesh out the nature of indole, as Lodoli understood it, from the apologhi— apologues, or allegorical tales—that he used in his lessons.