ZANOIA, GIUSEPPE. - Priest, architect, poet, b. in Genoa on 11 Jan. 1752, d. at Omegna (Novara) on 18 Oct. 1817.

After completing his ecclesiastical studies, he devoted himself to architecture, designing altars and chapels for the churches of Omegna, Catagno, the Borromeo house on Isola Bella, and S. Ambrogio in Milan, and he was at the center of Milanese artistic life as secretary of the Brera Academy (Discorsi, Milan 1811) and architect of the Cathedral. His oratory had a certain effectiveness: he preached in the presence of the archduke and the court in 1793, 1794, 1800, and delivered in Milan the funeral oration on the death of Empress Maria Theresa.

As a poet (Sermoni, 2nd ed., Milan 1823) he wrote four satires in the Horatian manner: stylistically so close to Parini that the sermon Sulle pie disposizioni testamentarie was published by Reina among the works of Parini. In his comedies (Il ravvedimento, I matrimoni ragionevoli, La capricciosa pentita, Rosalinda), based on Goldonian models, he pursued moralistic aims.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: T. Vellauri, Stor. della poesia in Piemonte, II, Turin 1841, pp. 203 and 476; G. B. Finazzi, Notiz. biogr. raccolte ad illustraz. della Bibl. Novartese, Novara 1890, p. 145; R. Barbieri Baroni, I. « Sermoni » di G. Z., in Giorn. stor. della lett. ital., 85 (1925), pp. 308-29; G. Mazzoni, L'Ottocento, 2nd ed., Milan 1934, pp. 71-72; P. Arrigoni, s. v. in Thieme-Becker, XXXVI, p. 409 ff.

Enzo Navarra

@incollection{ec12_zanoia_giuseppe, author = {Navarra, Enzo}, title = {Zanoia, giuseppe}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1777}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/zanoia-giuseppe} }

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Zanoia, Giuseppe

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