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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