Guglielmo Marconi scientists in Bologna index scientists in Bologna index

Vincenzo Menghini
(Marco Taddia)

Fig. 1: Tempera portrait of Vincenzo Menghini, detail of the work "Portraits of illustrious men of Budrio" (n.3) by Faustino Trebbi (1761-1836).
(Credit: Budrio Art Gallery, Photo Vittorio Bonaga, Budrio)
Sometimes a simple object is enough to evoke a town, even when this town is the birthplace of famous men and is full of history and rich cultural traditions, as is the case of Budrio, a small town in the province of Bologna, where the doctor and chemist Vincenzo Menghini was born in 1704. In the case of Budrio, the object is a terracotta flute, invented around 150 years ago by the musician Giuseppe Donati. The instrument which has made Budrio famous all over the world is known as an "ocarina" because of its elongated oval shape, similar to a little headless goose. Budrio has given the ocarina its own museum, next to the Archeology Museum and Art Gallery, as testimony to a past of which the people of Budrio can be justly proud - a history going back to the Umbrians, Etruscans, Gauls and Romans. The town’s illustrious citizens include Antonio da Budrio (1338? - 1408), canonist and teacher, and Quirico Filopanti, patriot, scientist and administrator, a fine example of the civil passion and dedication to culture that was present in his town in the Risorgimento.

Fig. 2: Budrio. Archway, Alfonso Torreggiani (1734-1736).
(Credit: Photo Vittorio Bonaga)


Fig. 3: A typical ocarina, the instrument from Budrio mentioned in the Webster American dictionary: a small, simple wind instrument shaped like a sweet potato, with finger holes and a mouthpiece: it produced soft, hollow tones.
(Credit: Photo Vittorio Bonaga)		  

Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but the fact that in 1556 Budrio opened one of the first public schools in the flatlands of Bologna, teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, leads us to believe that Menghini’s mind, far from feeling isolated, as can happen in small communities, found encouragement and protection there.

The people of Budrio had obtained Bolognese citizenship in 1338 so Vincenzo Menghini, born in Budrio to Domenico Menghini and Bartolomea Pinelli, was able to continue his studies in Bologna and aspire to a place at the Collegio Poeti.

Fig. 4: Plan of Budrio by Torreggiani, 1720.
(Credit: Foto Vittorio Bonaga)

(Vincenzo Menghini - page 1 of 4)
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