''Rinascimento privato'' (''Private Renaissance'') was the last novel written by the Italian writer

Maria Bellonci Maria Villavecchia Bellonci (30 November 1902 – 13 May 1986) was an Italian writer, historian and journalist, known especially for her biography of Lucrezia Borgia. She and Guido Alberti established the Strega Prize in 1947. Biography Bellonc ...

. It won the

Strega Prize The Strega Prize ( it, Premio Strega ) is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction written in the Italian language by an author of any nationality and first published ...

in 1986. It is a fictional

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

, covering the major years of the Italian

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 ...

from a private point of view within the court of the

Duke of Mantua During its history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of the House of Canoss ...

Structure

The book, like other works of Bellonci, is very well documented and accurately based on original documents that the author had the opportunity to study in detail. However, this is not a historical reconstruction, like her previous book about

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

, although that may perhaps have generated the idea for ''Private Renaissance'', but it is a true historical novel, with a few inventions by the author. These include the introduction of the fictional character of Robert de la Pole, an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

who writes to Isabella over several years from various points around Europe, who while fictional nevertheless appears to have been inspired by the historical English Cardinal

Reginald Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was bor ...

. The inclusion of this figure in the novel makes it possible to introduce important historical figures and events in the context of the period, even if they did not come into direct contact with Isabella. It is also valuable in replacing the figure of the narrator – irreconcilable feat with the book's autobiographical form – and the figures of other speakers who may have historically existed as sources for Bellonci, but it can not be used directly without compromising the flow of the text itself. Working with a fictional character, the author avoids exaggerating one or more actual figures and respects historical accuracy. Alongside the memories of her protagonist, Isabella d'Este, Bellonci develops the relationship between her and the Englishman (called Anglicus) into an uncanny connection: on the one hand, there is an instant attraction towards this devoted and distant figure; on the other, there is a perplexity because of his unconventional ways. Isabella solves the difficult question of how to respond through her tacit consent to receiving his letters – while she does not attempt to discourage him from writing to her, she also does not send him any replies.

Plot

The book is divided into seven parts, interspersed with twelve letters of Robert de la Pole. The narrative is constructed as a long flashback that takes place in 1533, when Isabella, aged almost sixty, is writing her memoirs in the so-called Clocks' Room of the Ducal Palace in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. Apart from some references to the present and the distant past, the narrative takes place mostly in chronological order between the years 1500 and 1533, which is the date when Isabella tells her story, ending the main events of her life (she died in the year 1539).

External links

Quotations on WikiQuote
1986 novels 20th-century Italian novels Novels set in the Renaissance Italian autobiographical novels Novels set in the 16th century Strega Prize-winning works Cultural depictions of Italian women {{1980s-autobio-novel-stub