COLOCCI, Angelo. — Humanist, born at Iesi in 1467, died at Rome on 1 May 1549. There he studied, devoting himself in particular to the ancient lyric poetry of Provence, which had been entirely forgotten in the Quattrocento, under the guidance of Cariteo, who bequeathed to him a “libro limosino” (the chansonnier M, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris).
In 1486, at Naples, he was admitted to the Accademia Pontaniana; in 1498, having moved to Rome, he protected learned men and artists, and after the death of Pomponio Leto opened his famous Horti Colotiani at Trevi to the Roman academicians and to lovers of good studies. Secretary to Leo X and to Clement VII, he travelled to Germany and England “to unite Christian princes against the Turk.” On 11 April 1537 he was appointed bishop of Nocera Umbra, which he resigned in June 1545, and spent his last years in Rome. He composed fine Latin poems, besides some mediocre poetry in the vernacular. In prose, among other works, he wrote: Apologia alle opere di Serafino Aquilano, Annotazioni su vari autori volgari e latini, Focesie, Vita di Serafino dall’Aquila; two short novels: L’anima d’Oliviero and La notte d’amore; and a Vocabolario della lingua. He collected valuable manuscripts, some of which are preserved in the Vatican Library.