Girolamo Fontanella

Girolamo Fontanella (Italian: [dʒiˈrɔːlamo fon.taˈnɛl.la]; c. 1612 – c. 1644) was an Italian Baroque poet.

Girolamo Fontanella
Bornc. 1612
Reggio Emilia, Papal States
Diedc. 1644
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Occupations
  • Poet
  • Writer
Writing career
LanguageItalian
Literary movement

Biography

Little is known of Girolamo Fontanella's short but active life until 1632, when his first book, L'Incendio rinovato del Vesuvio was printed in Naples.[1] He was born probably in Reggio Emilia around 1612, but he spent most of his life in Naples.[2] He was a member of the Accademia degli Oziosi,[1] and worked as poet for the Viceregal Court, as suggested by his sonnet dedicated to Fernando Afán de Ribera, Spanish ambassador to the Holy See from 1625 to 1626 and future Viceroy of Naples and Sicily.[3] Fontanella was a friend of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi, to whom he dedicated various poems.[4] He died in Naples between March 1643 and April 1644.[1]

Works

Fontanella is considered one of the best writers of pastoral verse of the 17th century. His poetry collection Ode (1633; second edition, revised and expanded, 1638) is influenced both by the conceptismo of Giambattista Marino and Guido Casoni and by the neoclassic poetry of Gabriello Chiabrera and Fulvio Testi.[5] His Nove cieli (1646), regarded by Benedetto Croce as akin to D'Annunzio's Laudi, uses the conventions of conceptismo to create graceful miniature portraits, frequently incorporating moral dicta, while the Elegie (1645) turn to declamatory pathos.[1] Many of his lyrics are included in Benedetto Croce's influential anthology of Baroque poetry.[6]

Notes
  1. Contarino 1997.
  2. "Fontanèlla, Girolamo". Enciclopedia on line. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.
  3. “Al Sig. Duca d'Alcalà, Ambasciadore in Roma per la Maestà Cattolica,” in Nove cieli, 74.
  4. Benedetto Croce, "Per la biografia di un poeta barocco: Girolamo Fontanella," in Aneddoti di varia letteratura, 2nd ed., 4 vols. (Bari: Laterza, 1953), II, p. 164.
  5. Catelli 2014, p. 811.
  6. Croce, B. (1910). Lirici marinisti. Bari: Laterza. pp. 219–266.

Bibliography
  • Contarino, Rosario (1997). "FONTANELLA, Girolamo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 48: Filoni–Forghieri (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
  • De Lorenzo, Pierandrea (2008). "I "Nove Cieli" di Girolamo Fontanella". Il nuovo canzoniere. Esperimenti lirici secenteschi. Rome: Bulzoni: 127–185.
  • Catelli, Nicola (2014). "L'invisibile compasso. Osservazioni sulla "dispositio" delle "Ode" di Girolamo Fontanella (1638)". Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Lettere e Filosofia. 5. 6 (2): 811–843. JSTOR 43915814.
  • Palmisciano, Vincenzo (2015). "Un ritrovamento per Domenico Basile e due per Girolamo Fontanella". Studi secenteschi. LVI: 417–420.
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