Introduzione. Usi del passato in chiave conservatrice nella politica e nella cultura del XVIII secolo

Introduction. Conservative uses of the past in 18th century culture and politics. This article intro-duces a selection of papers presented in the panel Ambiguities of the ancient. Conservative uses of the past in 18th century culture and politics, at the Congress of the International Soci-ety for 18th Century Studies held in Rome in July 2023. While studies have tended to focus on the use of antiquity to support progressive instances of rupture with the tradition of the ancien régime, the aim of this collection is to centre on the instances of preservation and moderation implied by reference to the past