ARETINO, Pietro. — Scholar, born in Arezzo in 1492, died in Venice on 21 Oct. 1556. He spent his early youth in Perugia. From there, or perhaps from Siena, he went to Rome, where he remained until the death of Leo X, making friends and enemies. During the period between Leo’s death and the election of Adrian VI, Aretino wrote his most violent pasquinades, for which he had to leave Rome before the arrival of the Flemish pope. He was hosted by Giovanni delle Bande Nere, with whom he formed a close and affectionate friendship. When Clement VII was elected pope, he returned to Rome; but after various vicissitudes, including an attack in which he was stabbed, he was forced to leave it for good, taking refuge once more with Giovanni delle Bande Nere and shortly afterwards witnessing his death, which he described in a letter renowned for its tenderness, affection, and spontaneity.
ARETINO, PIETRO — Portrait. Oil painting by Titian (1545). Florence, Pitti Gallery.
Venice then became his new refuge, where he enjoyed the friendship of illustrious figures such as Titian and freely indulged not only in his literary activity but also in the worst tendencies of his nature: flattery and blackmail. He thus became a famous libellist and panegyrist, and at the same time one of the most feared scholars in Italy. He vainly aspired to the cardinal’s hat.
He wrote on everything: chivalric poems that remained unfinished, a burlesque poem entitled *Orlandino*, the famous letters collected in six volumes, five comedies, a tragedy (*Orazia*), and dialogues of an obscene nature, as well as spiritual works such as *L’Umanità di Cristo*, *Le Prose Sacre*, and the lives of the Virgin, St Thomas Aquinas, and St Catherine—though without conviction or religious intent.
Secure in his enjoyment, power, and fame, he had no scruples in obtaining all these things. When times changed, he tried to change his methods, but without success. His asceticism was entirely superficial and affected. In his letters and comedies, however, there are traces of tenderness and goodness that reveal him as a poet and show that not everything in him was corrupt. He was a connoisseur of art and a passionate admirer of beauty.