Luigi Tansillo

Luigi Tansillo (1510—1568) was an Italian poet of the Petrarchian and Marinist schools. Born in Venosa, he entered the service of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo in 1536 and in 1540 entered the "Accademia degli Umidi" ("Academy of the Humid"), afterwards called della Fiorentina.

He was associated with the Court of Naples and served as Captain of Justice at Gaeta. [http://www.elfinspell.com/LucchiTansillo.html Elfinspell: Luigi Tansillo 1510-1568, Poem, Italian text and English translation with biographical Notes by Lorna de' Lucchi, from An Anthology of Italian Poems 13th-19th cent... ] ] His work "Il vendemmiatore", written in his youth, was considered licentiious enough to be placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum by Pope Paul IV.

His work "Il podere", conconcered with agronomy, was inspired by Columella with its precise observations on the choice of a good agricultural estate.

He died at Teano.

Jacquet de Berchem set some of his texts, as did Giovanni Tommaso Benedictis da Pascarola. François de Malherbe’s "Larmes de Saint Pierre", imitated from Tansillo, appeared in 1587, and in 1594 Orlando di Lasso also set Le lagrime di San Pietro. William Roscoe’s translation of Tansillo's "Nurse" appeared in 1798, and went through several editions.

Works

*"I due pellegrini" (1530)
*"Il vendemmiatore" (1532 – 1534)
*"Stanze a Bernardino Martirano" (1540)
*"Clorida" (1547)
*"La Balia" (1552)
*"Il podere" (1560)
*"Le lagrime di San Pietro" (1585)
*"Liriche"
*"Il canzoniere"

ources

*Francesco Ambrosoli, "Manuale della Letteratura Italiana , seconda edizione ricorretta e accresciuta dall'autore" (Vol.II, Firenze, G.Barbèra Editore), 1863.

References