Pietro della Valle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pietro della Valle

Pietro della Valle (born April 2, 1586 in Rome , † April 20 or 21, 1652 there ) was an Italian explorer , travel writer and composer .

Pietro della Valle dealt with the sciences and poetry from an early age. In 1611 he took part in a procession against the barbarian states with a Spanish fleet . After solemnly taking off the pilgrim's dress in Naples , he embarked in Venice in 1614 on a pilgrimage to the Orient . The journey took him to Turkey , Egypt and Arabia , from there to Jerusalem , through Syria and Persia to India .

He stayed in these areas for more than eleven years and got to know their languages, inhabitants and geographic conditions. His main work, however, is not free from naivety and a certain legend.

Title copper from Pietro della Valles description of the tear. Geneva: Widerhold, 1674

Only in 1626 he reached a handsome oriental entourage again Rome, where he was Pope Urban VIII. To honor Chamberlain appointed. Valle devoted himself again to the scientific studies and the elaboration of his travelogue, which under the title: Viaggi descritti in lettere familiari ecc. (Rome 1650, 1653, 3 volumes) and was soon translated into French (Paris 1661–63, 4 volumes, Rouen 1745, 8 volumes) and German (Geneva 1674). The work consists of 54 letters to a friend and bears witness to the author's versatile erudition and keen observation, although it is also not free from gullibility and the tendency to tell wonderful things. He was also a thorough connoisseur of music and acted as a stimulator and advisor in the musical life of Rome. After Valle had lived as a refugee in Naples because of a murder committed in anger, he returned to Rome with papal approval, where he died on April 20 or 21, 1652. his grave is in Santa Maria in Aracoeli . On the trip to Persepolis, he was particularly fascinated by inscriptions that he copied. He describes them in his fifteenth letter and publishes the characters. It was the first cuneiform script that Europe saw.

His Coptic dictionary was edited by Athanasius Kircher .

Works

  • Viaggi di Pietro della Valle il pellegrino con minuto ragguaglio di tutte le cose notabili osservate in essi: descritti da lui medesimo in 54 lettere familiari ... all'erudito ... Mario Schipano; divisi in tre parti, cioe la Turchia, la Persia e l'India ... Vit. Mascardi, Roma 1650–1658
    • Volume 1, La Turchia, 1650 ( digitized version )
  • Tear description in different parts of the world, namely in Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Persia, East India, and other far-flung landscapes: including a detailed narration of all the most memorable and remarkable things to be found in it, among others. to be found , first V. d. Authore itself [...] described in Italian, a. available in 54 send letters in 4 d. Geneva: Widerhold 1674.

Only a few compositions can be assigned to him with certainty, these are some vocal and instrumental works. He also appeared as a librettist .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Mainz City Library has an edition from the provenance of the electoral Bibliotheca Universitatis Moguntinae.

Web links

Commons : Pietro della Valle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Valle, Pietro della
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian traveler, travel writer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1586
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 1652 or April 21, 1652
Place of death Rome