Lodovico Castelvetro (ca. 1505–1571) was an important figure in the development of

neo-classicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism w ...

, especially in

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

. It was his reading of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

that led to a widespread adoption of a tight version of the

Three Unities The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities represent a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy that was introduced in Italy in the 16th century and was influential for three centuries. The three unities are: #''unity of action' ...

, as a dramatic standard. Castelvetro was born in Modena, Italy, and died in Chiavenna.

Works

His ''Poetica d'Aristotele vulgarizzata e sposta'' ("The Poetics of Aristotle translated in the Vulgar Language and commented on") was called the most famous Italian Renaissance commentary on Aristotle's ''Poetics.''Preminger, Alex and T. V. F. Brogan, et al., ''The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics'', 1993. New York: MJF Books/Fine Communications His supposed involvement in translation of Protestant texts caused him trouble with the Church. He was labelled a heretic in 1557, and lived in exile from his native Italy (he was born near Modena). His ''Giunta,'' a commentary on the '' Prose della volgar lingua'' by Pietro Bembo, is one of the earlier texts on Italian grammar, and

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

in general; his contemporaries objected to him that his theories were a little too philosophical for their time.

References

* Andrew Bongiorno (editor and translator), ''Castelvetro on the Art of Poetry'' (1984) * Stefano Jossa, ‘Ludovico Castelvetro between Humanism and Heresy’, in F. De Donno, S. Gilson (eds), ''Beyond Catholicism : Heresy, Mysticism, and Apocalypse in Italian Culture'' (New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2014), pp. 77–103.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelvetro Italian literary critics Italian male writers Year of birth uncertain People from Modena 1500s births 1571 deaths