Pietro Bembo

Pietro Bembo as Cardinal. Painting by Titian , 1539/40, National Gallery of Art , Washington

Pietro Bembo , or Latinized Petrus Bembo ( Venice May 20, 1470 – Rome January 18, 1547 ) was an Italian humanist scholar, poet, and cardinal . He was known for his mastery of Latin , and his style was considered exemplary by his contemporaries. His theory of the Italian literary language was groundbreaking. She contributed to the fact that the "language dispute" over the question of which variant of Italian was best suited as a literary language was decided in favor of Tuscan.

Life

origin and youth

Pietro Bembo came from a respected Venetian patrician family . His father Bernardo Bembo (1433–1519) had a humanist education and was a friend of the humanist Marsilio Ficino ; as a senator , ambassador of the Republic of Venice and a member of the Council of Ten , he was one of the leading politicians in his hometown. He had an excellent library, which his son Pietro later inherited. From July 1478 to May 1480 Pietro lived in Florence, as his father was a Venetian envoy there. This brought him into contact with the Florentine dialect, which would later shape his concept of written Italian. In 1487-1488 Bernardo stayed in Rome on an embassy, ​​and it was on this occasion that the eighteen-year-old Pietro got to know this center of humanism. In 1490 father and son were back in Venice and Pietro was introduced to local political life. In 1491 he emerged as a writer of Latin poetry. In the spring of 1492 he went to Messina to learn ancient Greek from the Greek scholar Konstantin Laskaris . There he met Cola Bruno, a young Messinian who became his lifelong companion, confidante and secretary. In the summer of 1494 he returned to Venice. In the fall he went to Padua to study philosophy, where he remained until 1495. In 1496 the Venetian printer Aldo Manuzio Bembo published his first published work De Aetna , a Latin account designed as a dialogue with his father about an ascent of Etna that he had undertaken in 1493 during his stay in Sicily.

In 1497 he went to Ferrara to continue his philosophy studies , where his father was then working as a diplomat. There he became acquainted with the court of Duke Ercole I d'Este , an important center of humanism. The duke appreciated him and invited him to stay at his country estate Belriguardo. In Ferrara, Bembo formed friendships with the courtier and poet Ercole Strozzi , the humanist and later Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto , and the poet Ludovico Ariosto . In 1500 began his love affair with Maria Savorgnan, an officer's widow. This experience provided him with material for a work he had been working on since 1497: Gli Asolani ('The Asolans', usually rendered in English as 'Asolan Talks'), a philosophical dialogue about love. Around 160 letters that he wrote to and received from Maria have survived; even private letters from humanists were considered literary works at the time and kept for later publication. In the period that followed he stayed partly in Ferrara and partly in Venice. In 1501 he published the Rime by Francesco Petrarca with Manuzio , in 1502 Dante's Divina commedia . In 1502 he met Lucrezia Borgia , the daughter of Pope Alexander VI , in Ferrara . , who had recently married, in February 1502, the son of Duke Ercole, future Duke Alfonso I d'Este . The love affair with her resulted in letters that still aroused the admiration of Lord Byron in the 19th century. In December 1503 his brother Carlo, who was two years his junior, died, after which he finally left Ferrara and returned to his hometown; he was now his father's sole heir, as another brother was illegitimate.

Ecclesiastical career under Julius II and Leo X.

Pope Leo X, painting by Raphael , Florence, Uffizi

Autograph by Pietro Bembo in the manuscript Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 3364, fol. 1r

As early as 1500, Bembo had applied in vain for posts and commissions in the diplomatic service; After repeated failures, he changed his plan for life and decided on a career in the church.

First, in September 1506, he accepted an invitation from Duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga of Urbino , wife of Duke Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro . He stayed in Urbino for five years. The move from Venice to Urbino was very helpful for Bembo's ecclesiastical career, because Duke Guidobaldo was a close ally of the new Pope Julius II , who had been in office since 1503. In addition, Julius' alliance policy was directed against the Republic of Venice, over which he imposed an interdict ; Bembo escaped this conflict, in which Venice suffered a heavy defeat in 1509 at the Battle of Agnadello , by changing his residence. He won the favor of Cardinal Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere , a relative of the pope whose intercession secured him a first sinecure . In 1511 Bembo moved to Rome. When Leo X of the Medici family was crowned pope on March 19, 1513 , the path to a brilliant career opened up for Bembo. As late as March, Leo appointed Bembo and his friend Sadoleto secretaries of the Breven ; that was one of the first acts of the new pope. As breven secretary (Italian segretario dei brevi ) Bembo was responsible for drafting papal documents in Latin; he owed this office to his reputation as an excellent stylist.

In 1514 Leo X tried to bring about an anti-French alliance. In order to win Venice for this project, he sent Bembo as an extraordinary envoy to his native city, but this mission was unsuccessful. In the years that followed, Bembo developed into a successful "benefit hunter"; the papal favor provided him with lucrative benefices and thus financial independence without having to take the vows associated with belonging to the clergy. His patrons included Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici (a younger brother of the Pope) and Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena .

withdrawal from the Curia

In the spring of 1518, Bembo fell seriously ill, and in the years that followed, despite partially recovering, he suffered from significant health problems; therefore he had to resign from the papal service in the spring of 1521. At that time he had already accumulated 27 benefices , and Pope Leo X, in gratitude for the services rendered, allowed him to inherit the benefices as private property at his discretion. The death of Leo X in December 1521 was a heavy blow for him, because the new Pope Hadrian VI, who came from the Netherlands. he had nothing to hope for. In December 1522 he felt compelled to enter the Order of St. John in order to be able to keep the lucrative benefices belonging to the order. Although he had not yet become a priest, this was associated with the postponed taking of profession (vows of the order). Among them was the vow of chastity , which he did not intend to fulfil, for he had had a mistress, Ambrogina Faustina Morosina della Torre, for nine years and maintained his association with her. Morosina was only sixteen years old and already married in 1513 when she became Bembo's mistress. Her husband, about whom nothing else is known, was alive in 1532 and the marriage was never annulled. Bembo did not keep the relationship secret, but lived openly with her like a wife. With Morosina he had three children, two sons and one daughter, born in 1523, 1525 and 1528. The two sons were legitimized by the Pope at Bembo's request, i.e. legally equal to legitimate children. This paved the way for the inheritance of property, including benefices, to the children.

These years, which Bembo spent far from the Curia - he mostly stayed in Padua - were a period of intense literary work. In his residence in Padua he collected valuable works of art, antiques, books and manuscripts. In 1530 the Republic of Venice gave him the post of librarian at the Biblioteca Nicena, later known as the Biblioteca Marciana , and appointed him their official historian, charged with presenting contemporary history from 1487 onwards. Both activities were voluntary. In October 1530 Bembo thanked Girolamo Fracastoro for the didactic poem on syphilis dedicated to him . Even severe strokes of fate – his eldest son died in 1532 and his companion Morosina in 1535 – did not diminish the tireless scholar’s ​​enthusiasm for work. Around 1537 he fell in love with Elisabetta Quirina, a married lady famous for her beauty and learning. He sent her love letters and composed six sonnets in which he glorified her. The deep friendship with Elisabetta was not later affected by his elevation to cardinal; she remained his confidante.

cardinal under Paul III.

Pope Paul III, painting by Titian , 1545/46, Museo di Capodimonte , Naples

1534 opened him the election of Pope Paul III. a chance to resume his ecclesiastical career, which had been interrupted by the death of Leo X. He managed to gain the support of Alessandro Farnese , a grandson of the new pope, who had been made a cardinal by the new pope in 1534 when he was just fourteen. On March 19, 1539, Bembo was proclaimed cardinal and received the titular church of San Crisogono , after which he moved from Padua to Rome in October and was ordained a priest in December 1539. Neither his unchaste past nor the worldly and sometimes erotic character of his works proved to be an obstacle; the reason given for his elevation to cardinal was that he could easily be considered the prince of his age in terms of learning and language skills (doctrina et eloquentia nostrae aetatis facile princeps) .

Bembo was hardly interested in theology. Therefore, the ideas of the beginning Reformation played a very minor role in his private correspondence. In the controversy over the doctrine of justification , he seemed inclined to compromise with the Lutherans. He freely maintained contact with people influenced by Protestant thought, some of whom were later persecuted by the Inquisition after his death .

Bembo's grave

Central to this spiritual reform movement were the famous poetess Vittoria Colonna , who admired and was a friend of Bembo, and the Vicar General of the Capuchins , Bernardino Ochino , whom Bembo held in high esteem and who later joined the Reformation. In 1521 Bembo had taken the view that Luther's theses should be discussed openly, and as a cardinal he showed great admiration for the efforts of his colleague Gasparo Contarini to reach an understanding at the Regensburg Colloquy of 1541. He belonged to the minority in the College of Cardinals who supported Contarini.

In 1541 he became bishop of Gubbio , where he moved in November 1543. There he finished his portrayal of contemporary Venetian history. As early as 1544 he received the diocese of Bergamo , which was much more important than Gubbio, and in the same year the Pope called him back to Rome. In the eighth decade of his life he continued his literary work without a sign of fatigue or loss of mental energy. Only when he became fatally ill did his restless activity end. He died in Rome on January 18, 1547 and was buried the following day in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva . His tomb is located there between those of Popes Leo X and Clement VII.

factories

Bembo's works are written partly in Latin and partly in Italian. His literary concept is based on the principle of a congenial, consistent imitation of the best model for prose or poetry in the respective language. This was the only way he thought he could achieve uniformity of style, which he saw as a prerequisite for mastery. This made him one of the language purists and classicists who did not want to tolerate anything that was incompatible with the style of the "classical" authors. He always represented his convictions in a clear, decisive tone. He used to constantly revise his texts.

Latin works

Pietro Bembo, painting by Titian around 1545, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples

In Latin, for Bembo, the only authoritative model for prose was Cicero . This attitude is referred to by the modern term Ciceronianism . Bembo was the most prominent Ciceronian of his time, and he pushed his views through the Curia.

Of Bembo's Latin writings, the letters written for the pope received particular attention, as they were valued as models of pure Latin. Bembo collected them and had them printed in Venice in 1535 ( Epistolae Leonis Decimi nomine scriptae , 16 books). It was only when he went to press that he added references to ancient Roman religion and mythology , which are missing from the papal originals: the Holy Spirit becomes the “heavenly zephyr ”, Mary the “goddess”, the cardinals are a “college of augurs ”, nuns are " Vestal Maidens". A collection of his personal correspondence in six books only appeared after his death ( Epistolae familiares , Venice 1552).

Among the private letters, an exchange of letters with Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola , a nephew of the famous humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , is of literary-historical importance. In it, Pico criticizes what he sees as a slavish imitation of Cicero. He argues that one should not merely imitate classics, but strive to surpass them, and to do so draw inspiration from different authors. Bembo defends Ciceronianism; he thinks that taking several role models leads to an inharmonious mixture of styles. You can draw material from different sources, but only one model should be chosen for the style. This should be Cicero for prose, Virgil for all kinds of poetry . Virgil's verses are so perfect that, in the judgment of his readers, nature herself could not surpass them if she wished to express herself poetically. Cicero was the most rhetorically brilliant author who had ever lived. Although the charge of prolixity, even garrulousness, occasionally leveled against him is not entirely unfounded, this is a defect of character and not of style. The style is equally perfect in all of the Roman's works, characterized everywhere by the same splendor and the same dignity. In principle it is conceivable that someone will surpass him in the future, but whoever strives for this must first reach the level of Cicero by imitating him. Bembo's letter to Pico was printed in 1530; it is also known as a treatise entitled De imitatione (“On Imitation”).

Beginning of De Aetna in the De Aetna type

Bembo's dialogue De Aetna was printed by Manuzio in February 1496 . A new font was used for the first time, which was specially designed for this work, the De Aetna type . It became groundbreaking for the entire further development of typography and forms the basis of the famous French typeface Garamond , which is still the most widely used typeface in letterpress today. A 1929 redrawn version of the De Aetna type was given the name Bembo ; a newer version is the Cardo . In terms of content, De Aetna Bembo's early work reveals a strong interest in geography , which he maintained throughout his life; in his presentation of contemporary Venetian history, he also went into detail about physical and economic geography. His ability to poetically characterize the atmosphere of a landscape is shown in his Latin poem Benacus (" Lake Garda "), printed in 1524. There he describes, in the context of ancient mythology, how the god of Lake Garda and the river nymphs celebrate a celebration because the diocese of Verona is getting a new, young bishop (Gianmatteo Giberti), from whom much is expected.

He completed twelve books covering the period from 1486 to 1513 from the presentation of the contemporary history of Venice, with which he was commissioned as the official historian of the republic. In it he dealt not only with Venetian affairs, but also with general history, particularly the Spanish and Portuguese voyages of discovery, which fascinated him.

Italian works

In addition to Latin, the traditionally preferred language of the humanists, Bembo also valued the Italian vernacular; he considered them equivalent to Latin. With his theory of language and stylistic theory, he wanted to give it a basis for its function as a literary language and show that it is suitable for literary purposes.

Gli Asolani
This philosophical dialogue about love, in which numerous poems are inserted, was a youthful work. It was published by Manuzio in Venice in 1505 and was dedicated to Lucrezia Borgia. In 1530 Bembo published a revised version of the "Asolan Talks". The dialogue takes place in Asolo (now in the province of Treviso , Veneto region ), at the country estate of the former Queen of Cyprus Caterina Cornaro , a cultural center where Bembo actually stayed. In addition to Caterina, three young men and three noble ladies are involved. The wedding of one of the ladies gives reason to ask the question about the nature of true love. The conversations last three days, corresponding to the three books of the work; on each day one of the young men presents his concept and hopes that the women will agree.

On the first day, Perottino appears and draws attention to the suffering caused by love; in his view she is the root of unhappiness, the cause of lovesickness, hatred, folly and wars. All love for him is desire and as such ultimately, despite the joys it bestows, mostly painful; moreover, it is impossible to fully possess the loved one. On the second day, Gismondo presents the opposite position. He sees love as a divine power that makes the lover happy and inspires noble deeds. It is a cosmic force that permeates the entire universe and ensures the continuity of creation. For mankind it creates the impetus to civilization, for the individual it offers the incentive to cultivate. In his enthusiasm, Gismondo exaggerates to such an extent that he fails to convince the ladies; he lacks the virtue of moderation, which is very important for Bembo. On the third day, Lavinello speaks, referring to a hermit to whom he owes his insight. He sees and appreciates both the positive and the negative aspect. Which of them has an effect depends on the type of desire and thus on the respective level of love. The love associated with lust can produce suffering when error-prone human lust is directed to an unsuitable object. As an alternative, a desireless love is highlighted. It expresses itself as joy in the immortal beauty of the divine, which is the archetype of earthly beauty. This archetype, which alone signifies true beauty, is revealed to man in contemplation , which leads him to happiness. At the end of Lavinello's remarks, the work ends abruptly; the ladies' reaction to this is not given. With the solution of the love question put into Lavinello's mouth, Bembo places himself in the tradition of Renaissance Neoplatonism , which Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola had propagated in the 15th century . Linguistically, he closely follows his model Petrarch ( Petrarchism ).

Prose della volgar lingua
The linguistic study Prose della volgar lingua (“Treatise on the vernacular”) was published in Venice in 1525. The literary setting is a dialogue between four humanists, including Bembo's brother Carlo, who he puts his own point of view on. The starting point in the first book is a comparison between the Latin and Italian languages ​​and the related question of the value of Italian as a literary language. In connection with this, the general question arises as to the relationship between natural, spoken language and a high-level written language. The fact that important writers used Italian proves its suitability as a literary language. Like Latin, Bembo sees Italian as being determined by classical models, which brought the vernacular to perfection, just as Cicero did with Latin. For him these are Petrarch and Boccaccio ; his relationship to Dante , on the other hand, whose vocabulary he finds somewhat objectionable, is distant. Petrarch is said to be the main model for poetry and Boccaccio for prose. The optimum achieved by them is to be imitated. Bembo shows how this is to be understood in practice by stylistically analyzing and commenting on sections from the works of the classics. In the third book he deals in detail with grammatical questions, making an important contribution to the standardization of Italian grammar. Since the models used the Tuscan language, the "language dispute" (questione della lingua) , the rivalry between the regional forms of Italian, is decided in favor of Tuscan, namely in favor of the 14th century idiom, which was already used in the early modern period was somewhat antiquated. In the language dispute, Bembo thus represents a counter-position to the view of Machiavelli , who did not want an ancient language, and the viewpoint of Castiglione and Trissino , who advocated a mixture of different regional influences in the standard language.

Bembo's letter of dedication to his Italian poem Sogno , 1492–1494

Rime
This collection of poems by Bembo was published in Venice in 1530, and an expanded version appeared in 1535. The Rime are 165 poems in which Bembo takes a wealth of suggestions and elements from Petrarch's Canzoniere in order to recombine them for his purpose. He usually chooses the form of the sonnet . A large part deals with erotic themes; in addition to love poetry, occasional poetry is also strongly represented. Although the poet refers to his own love sorrow, he is not concerned with emphasizing individual peculiarities of his personal fate, but rather focuses his attention on the universal.

Greek work

In 1494, while staying in Messina, Bembo wrote a speech in ancient Greek to the Senate of Venice. In it he advocates the promotion of the study of ancient Greek language and literature. It is an exercise in style that shows his good command of Greek and his familiarity with the speeches of Demosthenes . The style is consistently antiquated: the speaker refers to the help of the gods and to the oracles of Delphi and Dodona and uses the affirmative formula "By Zeus!".

reception

In an anthology of humanistic poetry published in 1552, the section containing Bembo's poetry is introduced with an epigram which places his Latin poetry alongside Virgil's and also pays tribute to his Italian verse:

Tu quoque Vergilio certabas, Bembe, Latino
Magnanimum heroum carmine facta canens.
Audit et musae captus dulcedine Thuscos
Ad citharam versus condere iussit Amor.

“You too, Bembo, competed with Virgil,
singing Latin poetry about the deeds of noble heroes.
Cupid heard it and, seized by the sweetness of the muse,
bade Tuscan verses create you to play on the strings.”

The after-effect of the Latin works was considerable; they were imitated as patterns, hence the term "bembism". Goethe still felt drawn to Bembo's classicism; In 1786 he visited the grave of the humanist scholar and noted in his travel diary that he was a reasonable and noble person "who did not like to read the Bible, so as not to spoil his Latin style and probably also his imagination."

The rime were very popular . This work was reprinted thirty times between 1530 and 1560, making it one of the greatest literary successes of the century.

Baldassare Castiglione was inspired by the "Asolaner Conversations" to give Bembo the final word in his work Il Libro del Cortegiano in a fictitious discussion and to have him recite the Neoplatonic theory of love. The "Asolan Talks" were often reprinted and enjoyed extraordinary popularity even during Bembo's lifetime. By 1600 the work was printed at least twenty-two times; A French translation appeared in 1545, and a Spanish one in 1551.

Bembo's prose impressed young writers and her influence led to the founding of societies dedicated to the study and promotion of the Italian language. Bembo's concept later caught on at the Accademia della Crusca , which followed his ideas in its 1612 dictionary.

The cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt was of the opinion that Bembo's "classic Italian letter style" as "a completely modern style of writing, deliberately kept away from Latin, and yet spiritually totally imbued and determined by antiquity" was at the forefront of Italian letter art of the 16th century. He regarded Bembo's Sarca as the masterpiece of neo-Latin poetry of the Renaissance, which took up ancient myths and developed them further.

Pictorial representations

As a young man, Bembo was repeatedly painted: he appears third from the right in Gentile Bellini's 1500 painting 'The Miracle of the Cross near San Lorenzo', and he can be identified with the 'Young Man' portrayed by Giovanni Bellini in 1505/1506 (that Image is now in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court ). The gem cutter Valerio Belli depicted him on a medal in 1532. A bembo medal later emerged from Benvenuto Cellini . Titian painted him as a cardinal at least three times; the last painting, created in 1545/46, is lost but known from copies. Furthermore, Bembo appears on frescoes by Giorgio Vasari . A portrait of Bembo by Raphael has been lost. The sculptor Danese Cattaneo created a bust of Bembo.

sources

• Andrea Del Ben (ed.): Giovanni Battista Ramusio, cancelliere e umanista. Edizioni Goliardiche, Trieste 2006, ISBN 88-7873-030-0 [contains 45 letters from Ramusio to Bembo in Italian]
• Giovanni Della Casa : Vita di Pietro Bembo , ed. Antonino Sole, Fògola Editore, Torino 1997 [contemporary biography of Bembo; Latin text, Italian translation, introduction]
• Daria Perocco (ed.): Lettere da diversi re e principi e cardinali e altri uomini dotti a Mons. Pietro Bembo scritte. Arnaldo Forni Editore, Sala Bolognese 1985 [reprint of a collection of letters addressed to Bembo, first published in 1560]

Text editions and translations

Latin and Italian letters

• Pietro Bembo: Lettere , ed. Ernesto Travi, Commissione per i Testi di Lingua, Bologna 1987-1993
  • Volume 1 (1492–1507), 1987
  • Volume 2 (1508–1528), 1990
  • Volume 3 (1529–1536), 1992
  • Volume 4 (1537–1546), 1993

Latin works

• Pietro Bembo: Carmina. Edizioni RES, Torino 1990 (slightly edited version of the first edition from 1553).
• Pietro Bembo: Lyric Poetry. Etna , ed. Mary P. Chatfield, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA) 2005, ISBN 0-674-01712-9 (Latin text with English translation).
• Pietro Bembo: History of Venice , ed. Robert W. Ulery, 3 vols., Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA) 2007–2009 (Latin text with English translation)
• Pietro Bembo: Sarca , ed. Otto Schönberger , Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1994, ISBN 3-88479-975-4 (first critical edition of the Latin poem with German translation).
• Joann Dellaneva, Brian Duvick (eds.): Ciceronian Controversies . Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA) 2007, ISBN 978-0-674-02520-2 (includes pp. 16–125 Bembo's correspondence with Gianfrancesco Pico; Latin text with English translation).
• Francesco Donadi (ed.): Gorgias: Helenae encomium. Petrus Bembus: Gorgiae Leontini in Helenam eulogy. De Gruyter, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-11-031635-3 , pp. 13–43 (critical edition of Bembo's Latin translation of the speech praise of Helena by the Gorgias of Leontinoi )

Greek work

• Pietro Bembo: Oratio per litteris graecis , ed. Nigel Guy Wilson , Centro interdipartimentale di studi umanistici, Università di Messina, Messina 2003, ISBN 88-87541-12-4 (critical edition with English translation)

Italian works

• Carlo Dionisotti (ed.): Maria Savorgnan, Pietro Bembo: Carteggio d'amore (1500–1501) . Le Monnier, Firenze 1950 (Bembo's correspondence with Maria Savorgnan).
• Giulia Raboni (ed.): Pietro Bembo, Lucrezia Borgia: La grande fiamma. Letters 1503–1517 . Rosellina Archinto, Milano 1989 (Bembo's correspondence with Lucrezia Borgia).
• Pietro Bembo: Asolaner Talks. Dialogue on Love , translated by Michael Rumpf, Manutius, Heidelberg 1992, ISBN 3-925678-19-0 (translation by Gli Asolani ).
• Pietro Bembo: Motti , ed. Vittorio Cian, Bonnard, Milano 2007, ISBN 978-88-89609-16-3 (critical edition).
• Pietro Bembo: Opere in volgare , ed. Mario Marti, Sansoni, Firenze 1961.
• Pietro Bembo: Prose della volgar lingua. L'editio princeps del 1525 riscontrata con l'autografo Vaticano latino 3210 , ed. Claudio Vela, CLUEB, Bologna 2001, ISBN 88-491-1585-7 (critical edition).
• Pietro Bembo: Prose e rime , ed. Carlo Dionisotti, 2nd edition, Torino 1978 (reprint of the 1966 edition).
• Pietro Bembo: Le Rime , ed. Andrea Donnini, 2 volumes, Salerno Editrice, Roma 2008, ISBN 978-88-8402-626-2 (authoritative critical edition).
• Pietro Bembo: Punch , ed. Alessandro Gnocchi, Società Editrice Fiorentina, Firenze 2003 (critical edition).

literature

• Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo . Edited by Claudio Vela, Einaudi, Torino 2002, ISBN 88-06-15887-2 [Collection of publications by Dionisotti on Bembo]
• Piero Floriani: Bembo e Castiglione. Studies on the classicism of the Cinquecento . Bulzoni, Roma 1976
• Carol KidwellPietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal 2004, ISBN 0-7735-2709-5 [authoritative standard work]
• Silvia Morgana and others (ed.): Prose della volgar lingua di Pietro Bembo. Gargagno del Garda (4–7 October 2000) . Cisalpino, Milano 2000, ISBN 88-323-4601-X [Congress Proceedings; contains numerous articles]
• Christin Pfeiffer: Love, literature and philosophy in the Renaissance dialogue. Pietro Bembo - Gli Asolani . Hellweg, Werl 2005, ISBN 3-9810470-0-1
• Christine Raffini: Marsilio Ficino, Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione. Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Political Approaches in Renaissance Platonism . Lang, New York 1998, ISBN 0-8204-3023-4 .
• Pasquale Sabbatino: La scienza della scrittura. Dal progetto del Bembo al manuale. Olschki, Firenze 1988, ISBN 88-222-3597-5 .
• Gareth D. Williams: Pietro Bembo on Etna. The Ascent of a Venetian Humanist. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2017, ISBN 978-0-19-027229-6

web links

Commons : Pietro Bembo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Pietro Bembo in the German National Library catalogue
• Engraving by Pietro Bembo
• Pietro Bembo: Historiae Venetae libri XII . Venice 1551 (facsimile).
• Pietro Bembo: Carmina . In: Carmina quinque illustrium poetarum , Florence 1552
• Pietro Bembo: Carmina . In: Carmina quinque illustrium poetarum , Bergamo 1753 (facsimile).
• Pietro Bembo: Gli Asolani . Milan 1808
• Bembo's Italian poems in a manuscript written around 1530

Remarks

1. ^ Massimo Danzi offers a detailed description of the library with the edition of the catalog from 1545: La biblioteca del cardinal Pietro Bembo , Genève 2005.
2. ↑ Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo , Torino 2002, p. 144.
3. ↑ See Otto Schönberger (ed.): Pietro Bembo: Sarca , Würzburg 1994, p. 10.
4. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, p. 19.
5. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 24–70 (with many extensive quotations from the correspondence in English translation).
6. ↑ Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo , Torino 2002, p. 150 f.; Carol KidwellPietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 71–98; Giulia Raboni (ed.): Pietro Bembo, Lucrezia Borgia: La grande fiamma. Lettere 1503–1517 , Milano 1989, p. 5 ff.
7. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 116–150.
8. ↑ Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo , Torino 2002, pp. 151-153.
9. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, p. 256 f.
10. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, p. 175.
11. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 276–282.
12. ↑ Walther Schönfeld : Introduction. In: Girolamo Fracastoro: Syphilidis sive morbi gallici libri tres in the translation by Ernst Alfred Seckendorf (1892-1941), introduced by Walther Schönfeld, Lipsius & Tischer, Kiel 1960 (= publication series of the Northwest German Dermatological Society. Issue 6), p. 5 –20, here: p. 5; See also Seckendorf's translation into German: pp. 25-86, here: p. 26 ("Bembo, proud son of Ausonia, ..."), 47 ("You have described to us worthy years of growth and decay - but I want to be silent, Bembo , Don't talk about yourself or anyone else") and 86 ("And so you may be content, so that Bembo on the banks of the Tiber also remembers you when he listens to my verses!")
13. ↑ Carlo Dionisotti: Bembo, Pietro . In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , Volume 8, Roma 1966, pp. 133–151, here: 144.
14. ↑ For Bembo's position and behavior in these conflicts, see Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 309-316, 337, 373, 388. Cf. Gildo Meneghetti: La vita avventurosa di Pietro Bembo , Venezia 1961, pp. 164-166; Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo , Torino 2002, pp. 115–140.
15. ↑ Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo , Torino 2002, p. 165.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Otto Schönberger (ed.): Pietro Bembo: Sarca , Würzburg 1994, p. 12.
17. ↑ Pietro Bembo: Letter to Gianfrancesco Pico . In: Joann Dellaneva, Brian Duvick (eds.): Ciceronian Controversies , Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2007, p. 76.
18. ↑ De Aetna , digitized version of the first edition.
19. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, p. 363 f.
20. ↑ See Christin Pfeiffer: Love, Literature and Philosophy in the Renaissance Dialogue. Pietro Bembo – Gli Asolani , Werl 2005, p. 163 f.
21. ↑ Michael Rumpf (translator): Pietro Bembo: Asolaner Talks. Dialogue on Love , Heidelberg 1992, p. 233; a more general study of Bembo's Petrarchism is provided by Giorgio Santangelo: Il petrarchismo del Bembo e di altri poeti del '500 , Roma 1962, pp. 55–114.
22. ↑ Carol Kidwell: Pietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 229, 464.
23. ↑ Karin Rädle: Swan snow and hair made of gold ( online ).
24. ↑ Carmina quinque illustrium poetarum , Florence 1552, p. 2 ( online ).
25. ↑ Otto Schönberger (ed.): Pietro Bembo: Sarca. Würzburg 1994, p. 23.
26. ↑ Goethe's Works. Weimar Edition Volume 3.1, Weimar 1887, p. 235.
27. ↑ Jacob Burckhardt: The culture of the Renaissance in Italy. 11th edition, Stuttgart 1988, p. 165 f., 184 f.
28. ↑ For the pictorial representations see Giulio Coggiola: Per l'iconografia di Pietro Bembo . In: Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti . Volume 74/2, 1914-15, pp. 473-516; Carol KidwellPietro Bembo. Lover, Linguist, Cardinal. Montreal 2004, pp. 391–393; Carlo Dionisotti: Scritti sul Bembo. Torino 2002, p. 167. Dionisotti is not entirely convinced of the identity of the person portrayed by Giovanni Bellini.

predecessor	government office	successor
Federico Fregoso	Bishop of Gubbio 1541–1544	Marcello Cervini

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