‘Piantare una scena’ nelle Georgiche di Virgilio

Vergil's Georgics was composed during a period when Rome was intensely preoccupied with food security, yet even for Vergil's sophisticated audience, crops remain a complex entity rooted in tradition, labor, family, and cultivated land. Crops in this way play a multifaceted role, bridging gaps between the natural and the processed, the wild and the tamed, the sacred and the understood. They serve as the foundation for Rome's grand monuments and civilization. This paper takes Elfriede Abbe’s illustrated commentary (1965) as a touchstone. Abbe’s project highlights the vivid and tangible framing contexts which support post-classical audiences. Reading the poem with Abbe emphasizes the intricate relationship between agriculture, nature, and the well-being of the Roman state while celebrating the complexity and significance of crops and their cultivation within a visual system