BARUFFALDI, GIROLAMO (the Elder). — Scholar, archpriest of Cento, born in Ferrara in 1675, died in 1755. He published learned pamphlets in Latin and Italian and took part in the Orsi-Bouhours controversy.
Languid but exceedingly prolific as a versifier, he wrote sacred verse, burlesque capitoli and anachronistic little songs, *Il grillo* (Venice 1738), a playful little poem, and *Il Canapajo* (Bologna 1741), which opened the way to the georgic poems of the eighteenth century; he is especially remembered for his dithyrambs, imitations of Redi’s *Bacco in Toscana* which he called «bac-canal». The first he published was the *Tabaccheide* (Ferrara 1714); but no fewer than 27 appeared in the posthumous edition (Bologna 1758), of slight artistic merit yet curious and interesting for the history of costume.