Abstract One of Poliziano’s most exacting texts, the Praelectio to his course on Persius, provides an insight into his understanding of Roman satire and, more specifically, his assessment of Juvenal’s style. To be singled out is not so much the comic element as the stylistic and linguistic one, which Poliziano brilliantly identifies as essential to Juvenal’s satyrical sublime. Poliziano’s special interest in satire visibly transpires also from the Praefatio to his Miscellanea I, a text which – for its subject matter no less than for its tone – comes about as a satire in prose, one which does not make a secret of the author’s emulation of Horace, Persius, and Juvenal in particular. Unsurprisingly, the latter had been the subject of one of the courses Poliziano taught at the Studium Florentinum; in fact, that set of lectures is the origin of some of the most remarkable chapters in his Miscellanea I, which offer a masterful (albeit austere) criticism of the interpretive tradition revolving around the comic element – an approach first introduced by Carolingian commentators and subsequently predominant among Juvenal’s interpreters (fifteenth-century humanists included).
Riassunto La riflessione di Poliziano sulla satira romana svolta nell’impegnativa Praelectio al corso su Persio ci illumina sulla sua concezione del genere e, in particolare, sulla valutazione dello stile di Giovenale. A prevalere nella definizione del genere non sono gli elementi comici o umoristici, ma piuttosto linguistico-stilistici e l’Ambrogini coglie con grande acutezza la peculiarità del sublime satirico dell’Aquinate. Un riflesso letterario di questa attenzione alla poesia satirica si ha nella Praefatio dei primi Miscellanea, che, per il tema ed il tono, si presenta come una satira in prosa, in cui spicca l’emulazione di Orazio, Persio, e soprattutto Giovenale. Il satirico di Aquino era stato del resto l’oggetto di un corso accademico dell’Ambrogini i cui risultati più brillanti saranno riproposti in alcuni capitoli fondamentali dei primi Miscellanea e nel quale il Poliziano aveva fatto giustizia, con piglio sicuro, metodo rigoroso e una certa austerità, di molte interpretazioni “umoristiche” che, a partire dai commenti carolingi, si erano diffuse nell’esegesi del satirico fino all’età umanistica.
Sublime satirique et humour juvénalien selon la tradition exégétique jusqu’à Politien
Stefano Grazzini
2020-01-01
Abstract
Abstract One of Poliziano’s most exacting texts, the Praelectio to his course on Persius, provides an insight into his understanding of Roman satire and, more specifically, his assessment of Juvenal’s style. To be singled out is not so much the comic element as the stylistic and linguistic one, which Poliziano brilliantly identifies as essential to Juvenal’s satyrical sublime. Poliziano’s special interest in satire visibly transpires also from the Praefatio to his Miscellanea I, a text which – for its subject matter no less than for its tone – comes about as a satire in prose, one which does not make a secret of the author’s emulation of Horace, Persius, and Juvenal in particular. Unsurprisingly, the latter had been the subject of one of the courses Poliziano taught at the Studium Florentinum; in fact, that set of lectures is the origin of some of the most remarkable chapters in his Miscellanea I, which offer a masterful (albeit austere) criticism of the interpretive tradition revolving around the comic element – an approach first introduced by Carolingian commentators and subsequently predominant among Juvenal’s interpreters (fifteenth-century humanists included).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.