Bernardo Dovizi of Bibbiena (4 August 1470 – 9 November 1520) was an Italian cardinal and

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

writer, known best as Cardinal Bibbiena, for the town of

Bibbiena Bibbiena () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany (Italy), the largest town in the valley of Casentino. It is located from Florence, from Arezzo, from Siena, and from the Sanctuary of La Verna. There are approximately 11 ...

, where he was born.

Biography

He received a substantial literary training, and became a preceptor and boon companion of Giovanni dei Medici, the future Pope

Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

(from 1513 to his death in 1521). In November 1494, when the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

were banished, he supported them. Soon afterwards he was rewarded with the protection of

Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...

and many honours at the Roman court. In 1513 his arduous efforts on behalf of his lifelong patron secured the election of Giovanni dei Medici to the pontifical throne. Leo X repaid such services by naming him a Cardinal in the Consistory of 23 September 1513, and appointing him Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Porticu. Leo continued to show his favor by appointing Bibbiena his treasurer and entrusting him with many important missions, among them the command of the Papal army in the

War of Urbino The War of Urbino (January–September 1517) was a secondary episode of the Italian Wars. The conflict ensued after the end of the War of the League of Cambrai (1508–16), when Francesco Maria I della Rovere decided to take advantage of the sit ...

(1517) and a legation to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(1518). Later on, the cardinal's strong sympathies for France lost him Leo's confidence. As cardinal he steadily extended his generous patronage of the arts - he was a close friend of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

, whom he had known since his youth, and arranged his engagement to his niece. Raphael painted a number of works for him, including frescoes of a classical and erotic style for his bathroom in the Vatican.

Author

His literary fame is mainly connected with the first comedy of note written in Italian prose, '' La Calandra'' (also, known as ''Il Calandro'' and ''La Calandria''), was probably given for the first time at

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

, about 1507. It was performed elaborately at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, seven years later, in the presence of

and Isabella Gonzaga d'Este, Marchioness of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

. Though containing glaringly immoral scenes, using the plot of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the ...

's '' Menaechmi'', it possessed the features of modern comedy and won plaudits for its sparkling wit and fine characterization. The main character,

Calandro ''Calandro'' is an ''opera buffa'' in three acts composed by Giovanni Alberto Ristori to a libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino. The libretto was based on the comedy '' Il Calandro'' by Bernardo Dovizi (Cardinal Bibbiena). In turn, Dovizi's ...

or Calandrino, was borrowed from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron in which he appears as a character in four stories. The author of the comedy sympathizes with Fulvia, and her lover Lidio, mocking the foolish husband of Calandro, who falls in love with Lidio, who changes into women's dress. The speeches of Fesenio, the servant of Calandro, shine with Italian sparkling jokes.

Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...

and Machiavelli imitated this comedy in their plays. A

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

n poet serving at the

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Court, Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, wrote a libretto based on the same story for the comic opera ''

'' by Giovanni Alberto Ristori. It was first staged in 1726 at the castle of Pilnitz near Dresden, and in 1731 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

it was the first ever opera performed in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. There were also the operas by: *

Antonio Sacchini Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for him ...

, ''L'avaro deluso, o Don Calandrino'' (24 November 1778

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) *Johann Georg Schürer, ''Calandro'' (20 January 1748

) *Giuseppe Gazzaniga, ''Il Calandrino'' (1771

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

)

References

Sources

*Barbiche, B.; S. de Dainville Barbiche (1985). "Les lègats "a latere" en France," in:
Archivium historiae pontificiae
', 22 (1985), pp. 93–165 at p. 50. *Cardella, Lorenzo (1793). ''Memorie storiche de' cardinali della santa romana''. Tomo quarto (Roma: Pagliarini 1793), pp. 7–9. * *Gaeta, F. (1969. "Il Bibbiena diplomatico," ''Rinascimento'', serie 2, 9 (1969), pp. 69–94. * *Santelli, A. (1931). ''Il cardinal Bibbiena'', Bologna 1931. (panegyric)

External links

*Patrizi, Giorgio (1992), "Dovizi, Bernardo, detto il Bibbiena,
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''
- Volume 41 (1992) Retrieved: 2017-01-13. * * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dovizi, Bernardo 1470 births 1520 deaths People from the Province of Arezzo Italian dramatists and playwrights 16th-century Italian cardinals Patrons of literature Italian male dramatists and playwrights Captains General of the Church

Biography

Author

See also

References

Sources

External links