CICOGNINI, Iacopo. - Writer, b. at Castrocaro in 1557, d. at Florence in 1633. Having graduated in jurisprudence at Pisa in 1600, he tried many professions in life, first as an ambassador in Rome to certain cardinals, then as governor in various cities of the Papal States; finally, following his dramatic bent, he composed in Florence, between 1611 and 1624, with rough popular force, some sacred plays: *Il trionfo di Davide*, *L’arcangelo Raffaello*, *Il martirio di s. Agata*.
In these works, more than in his rustic stanzas or secular dramas (even his son Giacinto Andrea spread the taste for Spanish theatre in Italy by composing theatrical works), is to be found the character of C. In his verses, which are an imitation of Chiabrera’s, and in all his literary output, he sought to express a state of dark and sorrowful unrest (C. ended his life insane and a suicide), repeatedly seeking in the sacred themes of the Bible elevation and religious comfort.