Annibale Caro
Encyclopedia
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Biography
Born in Civitanova MarcheCivitanova Marche
Civitanova Marche is a comune in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about 40 km southeast of Ancona and about 25 km east of Macerata.-Geography:...
, province of Macerata
Macerata
Macerata is a city and comune in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.The historical city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. It consisted of the Picenes city named Ricina, then, after the romanization, Recina and Helvia Recina...
, he became tutor to the wealthy family of Lodovico Gaddi in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, and then secretary to Lodovico's brother Giovanni
Giovanni Gaddi (priest)
Monsignor Giovanni Gaddi was an Italian cleric from the noted Gaddi family of painters, active from the 13th to 15th centuries. He became a deacon of the Camera apostolica and took on several posts in the papal court. He was associated with many writers, particularly his secretary Annibal Caro,...
. At Gaddi's death, he entered the service of the Farnese family, and became confidential secretary to Pier Luigi Farnese
Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma
Pier Luigi Farnese was the first Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro, from 1545 to 1547.Born in Rome, Pier Luigi was the illegitimate son of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese...
, duke of Parma, and to his sons, Duke Ottavio and cardinals Ranuccio
Ranuccio Farnese (Cardinal)
Ranuccio Farnese was an Italian prelate, who was Cardinal of Santa Lucia in Messina, Sicily from 1545 to his death in 1565....
and Alexander.
Caro's most important work were his translations (see below). He is also the author of poems, sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s, and a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
called Gli Straccioni. His work also includes two clever jeux d'esprit: La Fichelde, in praise of fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s, and a eulogy
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
of the big nose of Leoni Ancona, a local figure. His poetry is noted for the freedom and grace of its versification, so that many claim that he brought verso sciolto
Verso sciolto
Music term Verso sciolto means Free and Unrestricted lighthearted in tone.Psychology: Extremely civil and pleasant. Unthreatening...
to its highest form in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Letters he wrote, both in his own name and on behalf of the cardinals Farnese, are considered remarkable for both the baseness they display and for their euphemistic
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
polish and elegance.
Caro's fame was diminished because of the virulence with which he attacked Lodovico Castelvetro
Lodovico Castelvetro
Lodovico Castelvetro was an important figure in the development of neo-classicism, especially in drama. It was his reading of Aristotle that led to a widespread adoption of a tight version of the Three Unities, as a dramatic standard....
in one of his canzoni, and by his meanness for denouncing him to the Church for translating some of the writings of Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
, and associate of Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
.
He died in Frascati
Frascati
Frascati is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific...
in 1566. He is buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, one of several dedicated to the Roman deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence...
. His prose includes translations of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Cyprian
Cyprian
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
, and Gregory Nazianzen.
The translations
Annibal Caro published a translation of the AeneidAeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
which was much admired by contemporaries, and still is read with pleasure by the lovers of the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. Another translation which remained the standard one for several centuries is that of Daphnis and Chloe
Daphnis and Chloe
Daphnis and Chloe is the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist and romancer Longus.-Setting and style:It is set on the isle of Lesbos during the 2nd century AD, which is also assumed to be the author's home. Its style is rhetorical and pastoral; its shepherds and shepherdesses are...
, the novel by Longus
Longus
Longus, sometimes Longos , was the author of an ancient Greek novel or romance, Daphnis and Chloe. Very little is known of his life, and it is assumed that he lived on the isle of Lesbos during the 2nd century AD...
.