ARETINO, PIETRO. - Man of letters, b. at Arezzo in 1492, d. at Venice on 21 Oct. 1556. He spent his early youth at Perugia. From there, or perhaps from Siena, he went to Rome, where he remained until the death of Leo X, making friends and enemies. In the period running from the death of Leo to the election of Adrian VI, A. wrote his most violent pasquinades, on account of which he had to leave Rome before the arrival of the Flemish Pontiff. He was given hospitality by Giovanni delle Bande Nere, who formed a warm friendship with him. When Clement VII was elected pope, he returned to Rome; but after various vicissitudes, among which he even had to endure being assaulted and stabbed, he had to leave it for good, taking refuge once again with Giovanni delle Bande Nere and witnessing shortly thereafter his death, which he described in a letter that has remained famous for its tenderness, affection and spontaneity. Venice was therefore his new refuge, and there he was able to enjoy the friendship of illustrious figures, such as Titian, and freely abandon himself not only to his literary activity, but also to the worst tendencies of his nature: flattery and blackmail; he thus became a famous libelist and panegyrist, and at the same time one of the most feared men of letters in Italy. He aspired in vain to the cardinal's hat.
He wrote about everything: chivalric poems left unfinished, a burlesque poem entitled Orlandino, the very famous letters collected in 6 volumes, five comedies, a tragedy, the Orazia, and Dialoghi of a scurrilous character and even spiritual books, such as L'Umanità di Cristo, Le Prose Sacre, and the lives of the Virgin, of St. Thomas Aquinas, of St. Catherine, though without conviction or religious understanding.
A man given over to pleasure, power and fame, he had no scruples of any kind when it came to obtaining all of this. When times changed, he wanted to change his method, but he came across as insincere. His asceticism was entirely external and affected. In his letters and his comedies, however, one encounters touches of tenderness and goodness, which, while they reveal him as a poet, show that not everything in him was corrupt. He was a most refined connoisseur of art and a passionate admirer of beauty.
Bibliography7 works
Giambattista Salinari