ADRIANI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. — Florentine historian (1513–79), son of the humanist Marcello da Virgilio. During the siege of Florence in 1530, he was among the city’s defenders against the imperial and papal forces, but later he drew closer to the Medici, who esteemed and protected him.
In 1549 he obtained the chair of eloquence at the Studio Fiorentino, and, upon the death of Varchi, by commission of Cosimo I, he wrote the *Storia de’ suoi tempi*, which appeared posthumously, edited by his son Marcello (Florence, Giunti, 1533, and later Venice, Giunti, 1587). Divided into 22 books, it recounts the most notable events from 1536 to 1574, continuing the work of Guicciardini. In it, A. reveals himself as a historian of sound judgment and keen insight into the age in which he lived. Some Latin orations by him also survive.