Antonio Neri

Ludovic Antonio Neri ( born February 26, 1576 Florence, † ibid 1614, Pisa ) was an Italian priest, Alchemist and glassmakers.

Life and work

He was the doctor's son Jacopo Neri. Antonio Neri in Florence in 1601 was ordained a priest. There he lived in the household of Alamanno Bartolini. He devoted himself beyond the study of alchemy and chemistry. His travels took him through Italy, as well as Murano and to Holland and Belgium, he lived about 1604 to 1611 in Antwerp. He resided there in the house of the Portuguese banker and businessman Emmanuel Ximenes (1564-1632), that Emmanuel Ximenes, who lived a few years earlier in Florence with his sister Beatrice, who later became the wife of Alamanno Bartolini and was just that Ximenes which also as an art and curio collectors made ​​a name. While traveling, he won a large amount of information on the manufacture of glass and its further processing. It was particularly his knowledge in the manufacture of various types of glass and the addition of metal oxides to the glass melt for the formation of colored glasses which distinguished him. He put this knowledge in Scripture L ' arte Vetraria distineta in libri sette ( 1612 ) down, which formed the basis for most other work on this subject for a long time. In 1662 it was translated by Christopher Merret and provided with their own comments. It was translated into German by Johannes Kunckle, who published a revised and expanded edition from 1689.

Works (selection)

• Antonio Neri: L 'Arte del sette libri Vetraria distinta in r. p. Antonio Neri fiorentino: ne quali si scoprono, effetti marauigliosi, & insegnano segreti bellissimi, del fuoco nel vetro & altre cose curiose. nella Stamperia de'Giunti ( 1612 )