2020: XXII
Articles

Variazioni onomastiche dietro al “Galateo” di Giovanni Della Casa: una proposta di lettura

Isabella Gigli Cervi
University of Genova

Published 2021-04-16

Keywords

  • Giovanni Della Casa,
  • Galateo,
  • 16th century Italian literature,
  • textual onomastics

Abstract

This paper investigates the subtle play of references related to each character name variation, based on crucial points in the plot. Galateo, the title of the work, derives from the Latinized name of the dedicatee, Galeazzo Florimonte. This is in line with the Ciceronian habit in vogue in the sixteenth century consisting of the use of an anthroponym inserted in the title. Galeazzo Florimonte – bishop of Aquino and Sessa Aurunca, Casa’s friend during the years he lived in Rome, whose Libro delle inezie is an essential point of Della Casa’s volume – also appears as a real, historical figure. Finally, there is Galateo, the fictional character who comes to life and intersects the storyline, becoming an integral part of it.