Carlo de' Dottori (; 9 October 1618 – 23 July 1686) is an Italian writer, best remembered for his autobiographical ''Confessioni'' and his
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
''Aristodemo'', considered by
Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952)
was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...
one of the masterpieces of Italian
Baroque literature
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo ( ...
.
[Benedetto Croce, ''Storia dell’età'' ''barocca in Italia'' (Bari 1929), pp.248–253; and his critical edition (Florence 1948). Giovanna Da Pozzo, ‘Rassegna di studi su Carlo de’ Dottori 1985–1990’ in ''Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana'' 109 (1992), pp. 95–127.]
Biography
Carlo de' Dottori was born in 1618 in Padua of a noble family. We know very little about his early life or education except for what he himself has to say in his works. Dottori received a thorough classical education. He attended the
University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, but he never completed his formal studies.
He held several posts in different cultural-political Paduan institutions and frequented the
Accademia Galileiana
The ''Accademia Galileiana'' ('Galilean academy') is a learned society in the city of Padua in Italy. The full name of the society is ('Galilean academy of science, letters and the arts in Padova'). It was founded as the in Padua in 1599, on th ...
, the most important Paduan academy of his time, of which he became a member in 1645. He was elected four times as Principe of the academy, in 1649, 1670, 1675, and 1677. During the 1650s, he made various efforts to obtain the protection to and patronage of some important figures outside the domain of the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
. He spent most of his life as a
court poet under the patronage of
Eleonora Gonzaga,
, and
Leopold of Austria. He died at Padua in 1686. In his last years he composed a book of memoirs entitled ''Confessioni di Eleuterio Dularete'', published posthumously (Venice, G. Albrizzi, 1696). In a ''memoria'' read before the Academy of Padua on June 5, 1792, Giuseppe Gennari spoke at length and admiringly of Dottori's life and works. This same ''memoria'' was then published, in a somewhat enlarged form, as a preface to an edition of LAsino'' which appeared in 1796.
Works
Dottori's first work is the novel ''Alfenore'', which he wrote when he was only twenty. It is a hybrid sort of composition, revealing the influence of all the main trends of the time as well as the inexperience of the writer. Dottori's most famous work is the tragedy ''Aristodemo''. ''Aristodemo'' is a tragedy in verse, which found its inspiration and its models in classical authors, especially
Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
. First performed in Padua on 31 May 1655, the play was published in 1643, and maintained a rather high rank on the Italian stage until the eighteenth century. Dottori also published, in 1643, ''Rime e Canzoni'', which attained a second edition in 1689; and in 1652 he published the
mock-heroic
Mock-heroic, mock-epic or heroi-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. Typically, mock-heroic works either put a fool in the role of the hero or exaggerate the heroic ...
epos ''L'Asino'' (''The donkey''), which was lastingly successful. ''L'Asino'' is a mock-heroic poem, that is a satirical composition in "
ottava rima
Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio.
The ottav ...
" according to the well-established tradition of the seventeenth century. A comparison with
Tassoni's ''
La secchia rapita
''La Secchia Rapita'' (The sad kidnapped bucket) is a mock-heroic epic poem by Alessandro Tassoni, first published in 1622. Later successful mock-heroic works in French and English were written on the same plan.
Background
The invention of the h ...
'' seems unavoidable at this point. The resemblance is strong but limited to external elements such as the thin historical basis common to both poems. In the case of ''L'Asino'' this basis goes back to the medieval struggle between Padua and
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...
for the possession of a flag bearing the image of a jackass. Internally Dottori's poem differs significantly from Tassoni's. The bitterness and personal resentment of the latter are missing in ''L'Asino'' where the
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
mood is definitely benign. Dottori corresponded with
Angelico Aprosio, and probably assisted in his ''Bibliotheca''; he also exchanged letters on scientific subjects with
Francesco Redi
Francesco Redi (18 February 1626 – 1 March 1697) was an Italians, Italian physician, naturalist, biologist, and poet. He is referred to as the "founder of experimental biology", and as the "father of modern parasitology". He was the first perso ...
.
List of works
* ''Poesie liriche di Carlo de' Dottori. All'illustriss. & ecc. sig. il sig. D'Hameaux ambasciadore per la Maestà cristianissima, appresso la Serenissima Republica di Venetia'', In Padoa: per Paolo Frambotto, 1643.
* ''LAlfenore del signor Carlo de' Dottori. Donato alle dame della sua patria'', In Padova: per il Frambotto, 1644 (anche In Venetia: per Matteo Leni, e Giouanni Vecellio, 1644).
* ''Al serenissimo principe Francesco Molino per l'elezione di Sua Serenità. Oda di Carlo de' Dottori'', In Padoua: per Giulio Criuellari, 1646.
* ''Le ode di Carlo de' Dottori. Prima, e seconda parte al serenissimo principe Leopoldo di Toscana'', In Padoua: per il Criuellari, 1647.
* ''Canzoni del signor Carlo de' Dottori. Al sereniss. prencipe Rinaldo card. d'Este'', In Padova: ad istanza di Andrea Baruzzi. Nella stamperia del Pasquati, 1650.
* ''L
'asino. Poema eroicomico d'Iroldo Crotta. Con gli argomenti del Sig. Alessandro Zacco, e le annotazioni del sig. Sertorio Orsato'', In Venezia: per Matteo Leni, 1652
Google books.
* ''Aristodemo, tragedia di Carlo de' Dottori. All'altezza ser.ma del signor principe Leopoldo di Toscana'', In Padoua: appresso Mattio Cadorin, 1657.
* ''Lettere famigliari del signor Carlo de' Dottori'', In Padova: ad instanza di Andrea Baruzzi, 1658 (In Padova: per Gio. Battista Pasquati, 1658).
* ''Ode sacre e morali di Carlo de' Dottori alla maestà cesarea dell'imperadrice Leonora'', Padova: nella stampa di Matteo Cadorino, 1659 (Padova: nella stampa di Matteo Cadorino, 1659).
* ''Orazione funebre-panegirica in morte di Madama Serenissima di Mantoua. Alla maestà cesarea dell'imperadrice figliuola di sua altezza'', In Padoua: per Gio: Battista Pasquati, 1660.
* ''Le ode del signor Co. Carlo di Dottori in questa quarta impressione da lui rivedute, scelte, accresciute e divise in Eroiche, Funebri, Amorose, Morali e Sacre''. In Padoua: per gli eredi di Paolo Frambotto, 1664
Google books.
* ''Bianca drama tragico d'Eleuterio Dularete. Dedicato all'eccellenza del signor Girolamo Gradenigo capitano di Padova'', In Padova: per Pietro Maria Frambotto, 1671.
* ''La Zenobia di Radamisto opera scenica del signor co. Carlo di Dottori. Dedicata all'illustrissimo signor Gio. Isaia Bar. de Hartig'', In Venetia: per Gio. Francesco Valuasense, 1686.
* ''Ippolita, drama per musica, Comandato dalla Maestà cesarea dell'imperadrice al signor conte Carlo de' Dottori'', In Padova: per Pietro Maria Frambotto, 1695.
* ''Confessioni di Eleuterio Dularete consacrate alla serenissima Elisabetta Valiera prencipessa di Venezia'', In Padova: per Sebastiano Spera in Dio, 1696.
* ''Galatea: poema inedito''; a cura di Domenico Manfrin, Padova: tipi del Seminario, 1850.
*
Notes
Bibliography
* Carlo de' Dottori, ''Il Parnaso'', edited, with introduction and notes, by
Carlo L. Golino. University of California Publications in modern philology, Volume 48.
University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1957.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:de' Dottori, Carlo
1618 births
1685 deaths
People from Padua
17th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights
17th-century Italian male writers
Italian male dramatists and playwrights
17th-century Italian poets
Italian satirical poets
Italian Baroque writers
University of Padua alumni