Girolamo Preti (1582 — 6 April 1626) was an Italian

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

poet. He is considered one of the most accomplished of early 17th-century poets.

Biography

Born in Bologna in 1582, he was destined for a legal career, but broke off his studies to devote himself to

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. He became a member of the Bolognese Accademia dei Gelati, founded in 1588 by

Melchiorre Zoppio Melchiorre or Melchior Zoppio (c. 1544–1634) was an Italian doctor and scholar. Life Born in Bologna, a son of Girolamo Zoppio, Melchiorre Zoppio followed his father's dual career in medicine and education. He taught philosophy in Macerata t ...

, and became friends with the poet Cesare Rinaldi. In 1609, he was made member of the

Accademia degli Umoristi The Accademia degli Umoristi (Academy of the Humorists) was a learned society of intellectuals, mainly noblemen, that significantly influenced the cultural life of 17th century Rome. It was briefly revived in the first half of the eighteenth cent ...

. He became friends with Girolamo Aleandro, Antonio Bruni, Alessandro Tassoni and other members of the Academy. In 1611 Preti was charged by cardinal Federico Borromeo to purchase volumes for the newly founded Biblioteca Ambrosiana. Later he put himself at the service of Cardinal

Carlo Emanuele Pio di Savoia Carlo Emanuele Pio di Savoia (5 January 1585 in Ferrara – 1 June 1641 in Rome) was an Italian cardinal of the Pio di Savoia family. He was the uncle of Cardinal Carlo Pio di Savoia. Life His father was Enea Pio di Savoia, Signore di Sassuolo ...

and then of Alessandro Ludovisi (the future

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623. Biography Early life Al ...

). Preti was one of the few '' concettisti'' to find favour in the Rome of

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

; he served as secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, and was accompanying him on a Spanish embassy when he died suddenly in the spring of 1626.

Works

Preti was a very successful poet. His poems, which were first printed in Venice in 1614, were reprinted eight times during the first half of the 17th century (Venice 1624 and 1656; Bologna 1618, 1620, 1631 and 1644; Milan 1619; Rome 1625; Macerata 1646). His idyll ''La Salmace'' was translated into

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Spanish,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. In 1647 a translation into English of ''Oronta di Cipro'' was made by Thomas Stanley as ''Oronta, the Cyprian Virgin''.London: printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the signe of the Princes Armes in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1647. It was published in several editions through 1651. He is best known for his

idylls An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). ...

, a genre which he established with the mythological ''Salmace'' of 1609, inspired by a story in the fourth book of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

'', and then extended to more straightforwardly amorous subjects. His lyric ''Poesie'' (1614) is characterized by a cautious yet original adaptation of the models offered by

Giambattista Marino Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gia ...

, whom he knew from the early 1600s, when Marino was a frequent visitor to Bologna. He makes moderate use of complex metaphors and ''acutezze'', inclining to a gently sensuous style, which captures physical detail (his description of the

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

Salmacis Salmacis ( grc, Σαλμακίς) was an atypical Naiad nymph of Greek mythology. She rejected the ways of the virginal Culture of Greece, Greek goddess Artemis in favour of vanity and idleness. Mythology Ovid's version Salmacis' attempted ...

bathing is exemplary), while avoiding the more intense and disturbing erotic charge to be found in Marino. His ideas were similarly conservative: in his brief treatise ''Intorno all’onestà della poesia'' (1618) he reasserts the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Neoplatonist view of the moral functions of love poetry. Like many other of Marino’s friends, he was perplexed by ''L’Adone''.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

* «Girolamo Preti Bolognese». In : ''Le glorie de gli Incogniti: o vero, Gli huomini illustri dell'Accademia de' signori Incogniti di Venetia'', In Venetia : appresso Francesco Valuasense stampator dell'Accademia, 1647, pp. 276–279
on-line
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Preti, Girolamo 1582 births 1626 deaths Italian poets Italian Baroque people University of Bologna alumni People from Bologna Baroque writers Marinism