DELLA PORTA, GIAMBATTISTA. - Playwright and polymath, b. in Napoli in 1535, d. there on 4 Feb. 1615. He occupied himself with magic, chemistry, mathematics, and physics; he travelled extensively in Italy, France, and Spain. A charge of witchcraft brought against him was not pursued because it was recognized as unfounded by the Inquisition; the Accademia dei Segreti, which he had established in Napoli, was instead suppressed. In 1590 he engaged in a public disputation with Tommaso Campanella.
Among his numerous works may be mentioned: Magiae naturalis sive de miraculis rerum naturalium libri IV (Napoli 1558), which met with wide acclaim; De furtivis literarum notis, vulgo de ziferis (ivi 1563); De humana physiognomonia (Vico Equense 1586); De refractione, optices parte (Napoli 1593); and the posthumous Della chiro-fisonomia (ivi 1677). He also devoted himself to the theatre, producing 14 comedies after Latin models, and the tragedy Giorgio (1611), on a sacred subject.