Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/36

 (versi sciolti): the comedies of the time, nearly all based oil Plaulus and Terence, and a few original, were written sometimes in verse and sonietimes in prose. The masterpiece among the comedies was the Mamlragola (1513) of XiccolO Machiavelli ( 14t)9-1527) . Other writers of come- dies, which were, unfortunately, often licentious in character, were Dovizi (14701^)20), Agnolo Freinzuola ( 14'.)3c. 1.545), Giovanni .Maria Cccclii (151S-87), Ariosto (who was really the first to produce Italian comedies formed regularly ac- cording to the classic nio<lels), and es|x-cially Pietro Aretino, the most original and realistic of them all. Several popular forms of the drama assumed importance in the first half of the si.- teentli century; thus, the satirical comedies, called farse citvaiiiote. were performed in Nai)les, n rustic comedy enjoyed great vogue at Siena, and comedies in dialect were favorites in the Venetian territory. The most widespread of all the popular forms after the middle of the six- teenth ceiitui"}' was the so-called cODniKtlia dcl- I'arte, a drama of improvisation, in which only the scenario or scenes had a definite written char- acter, for (he dialogue of the personages (Pan- talone, Arlecchino being conventional personages in the masks) was left to the ingenuity of the actors. It is the existence of this comedy of improvisation that explains the dearth of writ- ten comedies of any value until the eighteenth century. The pastoral dranui. an outgrowth of the dramatic eclogue, also enjoyed much favor in the second half of the century. Already fully formed in the Sacrificio (1.554) of Agostino liec- cari (c.l510-!10) . it reached its height of excel- lence in the Amiiitn (1573) of Tasso and the Pastor Fido of (iuarini (1537-U!!2). Production in prose was considerable dur- ing the sixteenth century, to which time belong a number of important historical and politi- cal works. Generally speaking, the style is somewhat too stilted and labored, following too closely the periods and construction of classi- cal Latin prose. First rank among the better writers of prose must be accorded to Xiccold Machiavelli ( 14(i0-1527), to whom we owe the Priiici/ic. a treatise on statecraft which has been rather too harshly criticised, because the author disregarded moral considerations in his state- ment of rules for political conduct: the Disrorsi sopra la prima dcca di Tito Livio. which reveals Macbiavelli's republicanism: the Arte dcUa guer- ra: and the Istoric fwrentine. a history of the modern type. A great many historians followed Machiavelli. the most important being Fran- cesco Guicciardini ( 14S3-1,540) . who in Iiis /.?- toria d'ltalia put forth the best historical work of the century, and also displayed remarkable powers of observation in bis .sVon'n fioreniina, and much political acumen in the Discorsi on the government of Florence and in the two books of the Del reiigimcnto di Firenze, as well as in his letters and memoirs. Of lesser note were Jacopo Xardi (1476-1505), Benedetto Varclii (1503-05), Paolo Paruta. (1.540-08). A bio- graphical work of much repute is the Vite de' pifi ecceUrnti pittori, sctiliori c architrtti of Giorgio Vasari (1511-74), and an autobiography most graphically told in a familiar style is that of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-71). Excellent pictures of the manners of the time may be found in the tales of Matteo Bandello (c.l480, died after 1562), Agnolo Firenzuola, Giovanni Forteguerri (1508-82), and others. The ideal life of a cour- tier is dejiicted in the Corlcyiuiio of Baldassare Gastiglioiie (1478-1529). who also discusses mat- ters of language and art. ])latonie love, etc. A similar work on the rules of etiquette to be ob- si'rved by a gentleman is the (Jalatto of Giovanni della Casa (1503-56). Among the writers of Utters. Torquato Tasso is most meritorious for naturalness of tone; other deserving collections oi letters are those of Annibale Caro (1507-06), Pietro Bembo, Giovanni della Casa. etc. Of moralists there may he mentioned Giambattisla Gelli, and, above all, Tasso, who, in his L>ia- loyhi. sought to reconcile ancient philosophy with the Christian religion. Xot the least industrious of the pro*e writers of the age were those en- gaged in translating the classics. Preeminence is here to be given to. nibale Caro for liis ver- sions of the -Eneid (Encide), and of Longus's Pastoral Loves (.Iniori pastorali). To the sixteenth centui-y there succeeded a jicriod of decay, the most lamentable in all the iiistory of Italian literature. Political circum- stances, and particularly the domination of Spain and the intermeddling of northern nations, t<nded to suppress the national consciousnes.s that had stirred so many writers of the preceding century. Jlore stress is laid upon outer form than upon the nature of the suliject-matter, and there prevails an extreme artificiality of style which revels in plays upon words, antitheses, double meanings, and conceits. The greatest im- perfections of the kind belong to the first half of the seventeenth century. From the middle of the seventeenth century to the middle of the eighteenth century, attempts were made, with liut moderate success, to rid the literature of formal and stylistic exaggerations. The Arcadian Academy (founded in 1600) was established to correct the dominant bad taste in poetry, but none of its members attained to real eminence as poets. At the outset there were many servile and trivial imitators of Tasso's epic. A writer who exercised a good deal of induence upon his own time was Giambattista Marini (1500-1025), whose more ambitious mythological poem. Ado- jir. which is hardly more than a tissue of de- scriptive matter, as well as his lyrics and idyls, is full of empty conceits and other artificialities of style. One of the few who avoided the de- plorable tendencies of the age was .Alessandro Tassoni (1505-1635); he gave forth in his Sccchia rajiita the first important mock-heroic poem, and bad many followers, as. for example. Francesco Bracciolini (1560-1044). who satirized the im- moderate use of mythological elements in the literature of the day. In lyric verse there is a. manifest endeavor to substitute classic models for the Canzoniere of Petrarch, and Gabriello Chiabrera (15.52-1638) imitates the manner anl metrical form of the poems of Pindar and Anacreon. and Fulvio Testi (15031646) takes Horace for his master. The commcdia dclV arte still monopolizes the stage, and true dramatic composition languishes, although imitations of the pastoral drama of Tasso and Gnnrini ap- pear. We have to note, however, that the melo- drama or opera begins with the Dnfne. Euridire, and Arianna of Ottavio Rinnccini (1504-1021), and makes its way all over Europe. The prose of historical works exhibits the general formal defects already noted in the verse. Hi'itorians of some force were Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623,