BARBIERI, GIUSEPPE. – Preacher, born in Bassano Veneto in 1774 and died in Padua in 1852. He was a Benedictine monk and professor at the University of Padua, where he succeeded Cesarotti in the chair of Latin and Greek eloquence.
A preacher of wide renown, he brought to the pulpit a secular tone in his pictorial-naturalistic descriptions, drawing especially from Buffon’s *Natural History*. In his warm oratory, one can discern clear influences from French writers and preachers such as Pascal, Bossuet, Fénelon, and Massillon, the latter of whom he was particularly familiar with. In his *Lenten Orations* (Milan, 1836), echoes of his poetic compositions are heard, especially from *The Seasons*, in which he contributed to the fashion inspired by Thomson and Saint-Lambert. His love for his homeland and his people earned him censure and persecution. He received enthusiastic applause and severe criticism in the cities where he preached, particularly in Florence.