240
ITALY
of recoverins classical writers and copying manu- somewhat Petrarchan in tone, but largely original in
scripts while the vernacular was despised, and au- form, is the finest collection of ove poems of Uie
thors attempted to write Latin verse and prose in century; his unfinished "Orlando Innamorato a
the manner of the ancients. Greek scholars flocked poetic romance in ottava nma, gives fresh life to the
to Italy, and the influence of Plato,
translated into Latin by Leonardo
Bruni (d. 1444) and Marsiho Ficino
(d. 1495), became paramount. The
latter, who was bent on harmonizing
Plato with Christianity, and who also
translated Plotinus, was instrumeii
tal in founding the Florentine iv«-
Platonic Academy. Some of thosr
Humanists were purely pagan in
spirit, like Poggio Bracciolini (d.
1459), .\ntonio Beccadelli, called
Panormita (d. 1471), and Francesco
Filelfo (d. 1481). But there were
others, such as the Camaldolese
monk. .\inbrogioTraversari (d. 1439),
Palla Strozzi (d. 1462), Giannozzo
Manotti (d. 1459), Guarino Veronese
(d. 1460), Vittorino da Feltre (d.
1446), ami Giovanni Pico della Mi-
rantlola (1463-94), who could reconcile their wor'-liip
of antiquity with their living faith in the Catholic
Church, .\mong these Christian Humanists were two
popes, Nicholas V (d. 1455) and Pius II (d. 1464). A
vivid picture of the literary life of the age is given in
the "Vite d'uomini illustri"
of the Florentine bookseller,
Vespasiano da Bisticci (1421-
98). In the earlier pa-rt of the
century, vernacular literature
is of minor importance. Leo-
nardo Giustiniani of Venice
(1388-1446) wrote popular
love poetry and religious laiidi,
some of which have been at-
tributed to Jacopone da Todi.
The Florentine architect,
Leon Battista Albert i (1406-
72), is the author of artistic
treatises and moral dialogues,
especially the four books of
" Della Famiglia ", in a Tuscan
tinged with Latini.sms. Feo
Bolcari (1410 St) wrote mys-
tery plays and religious poems,
and also lives of B. (liovanni
Colombini and his followers,
with the devout simplicity of
an earlier age. Also in reli-
gious literature we have the
ascetical letters of B. Giovanni
Dominici (d. 1419), a strenu-
ous opponent of the pagan
tendencies of the classical re-
vival, and the vernacular ser-
mons (1427) of St. Bernardine
of Siena.
In the latter part of the century, mainly through the
Carlovingian legends by informing
them with the spirit of the Arthurian
Cycle. Among lesser poets of the
Medicean circle, Luigi Pulci (1432-
1484), in his "Morgante", treated
the adventures of Orlando with a fan-
tastic mingling of seriousness and
japery; Girolamo Benivieni (1453-
1542), a noble mystical and patriotic
spirit who outlived his age, sang of
celestial love " according to the mind
and opinion of the Platonists " ( 1487) ,
and became the lyrical interpreter of
the aspirations of Savunamla. At
the northern courts, the l)lind poet
Francesco Bello followed in Boiardo's
footsteps with his " Mambriano "
(1496); the Ferrarese courtier An-
tonio Tebaldeo (1463-1537), whose
V i; .nuDo poetry all belongs to the fifteenth
fi'iiiiiry, exaggerated the defects of Petrarch and \ersified the polities of his patrons; Antonio Cam- melli, called "II Pistoia" (1440-1.502), produced an extraordinarily vivid series of satirical sonnets which are historical documents of high importance. In the South, the two chief literary figures are the Neapolitans, Giovanni Pontormo (1426- 1503) and Jacopo Sannazaro (14.58-1530). The former, who gave his name to a famous academy, wnitc only in Latin, which. alike in pnise and verse, he used as though it were his own tongue. The latter owes his fame to his Latin " Eclogs Pi^-catoria-" and his Italian " Arcadia ". in prose and verse, which influenced the literature of Elizaliethan England; his chief Latin poem, "De Partu Virginis", was not published until 1526. The most impor- tant Italian historical work of the fifteenth century is the " Storia di Milano " of Bernar- dino Corio (1459-1510), of ';pecial value for its minute and vivid picture of llic reigns of the dukes of the Sforz.i family. The ('i'»(/»( (■<)//() witnessed the Tuscan vernacular finally established as the literary language of Italy, and the classical studies of the past hearing fruit no longer in pedantic imitation, but in a national literature which is cla.ssical only in its perfection
E So-CALLE!) PORTRAIT OF ARIOSTO
Titian, National Gallery, London
influence of Lorenzo de' Medici and the dukes of of form. In prose. NiccoloMaehiavelli (1469-1.527)and,
Ferrara, Italian again triumphed over Latin. Three inpoetryLodovicoAriosto(1474-1533), are the master
poets appear, almost of the first class: Lorenzo de'
Medici himself (1449-92), Angelo Poliziano (1454-94)
and Matteo Maria Boiardo (1434-94). Of extraor-
dinary versatility as a poet, Lorenzo left the im-
print of his striking personality upon all he wrote and,
especially in his subjects drawn from country life,
shows a keen feeling for nature. The ballale and
canzonette of Poliziano have the true lyrical note,
while his "Stanze per la Giostra" are impregnated
with the spirit of Florentine painting, and his " Or-
spirits of the age. Machiavelli's political and his-
torical works, admirable in clarity, brevity, and effi-
cacy of expression, penetrating in insight, and at
times noble in patriotic aspiration, are open to severe
condemnation as virtually excluding moral consider.a-
tions from the sphere of public life. Next to Dante,
,-\riosto is the greatest poet that Italy has produced.
His " Orlando Furioso ", a romantic epic continuing the
matter of Boiardo's chivalrous poem, but conforming
to classical models, has all the highest qualities of
feo" handles a mythological subject in the .style of style, imagination, and humour; but, while faithfully
a religious mystery play. Boiardo's "Canzoniere", reflecting the society of the early Ciruiucccnto, it is
