XVI. CHAP. that if he had persevered in his exertions and undertaken a work deserving of his talents, he would have established a reputation as an Italian A. Pont. VI. poet, which would scarcely have been excelled by that of any other writer of whom Italy can A.D. 1518. boast.(a) Tebaldeo. Another surviving member of the Neapolitan academy was Antonio Tebaldeo, of whose writings some specimens have also been given in the foregoing pages. He He was a native of Ferrara, born in the year 1463,(b) and educat ed to the profession of medicine; in whichk however it is not probable that he made any great proficiency, as it appears that from his youth he had been devoted to the study of poetry and was accustomed to recite his verses to the music of his lute. A collection of his poems was published by his cousin Jacopo Tebaldeo at Modena in the year 1499; contrary, as (a) The Italian poems of Sanazzaro have generally been published with his Arcadia, of which there have been numerous editions of these the most complete and correct are those by Comino, Padua, 1723. 4to. and by Remondini, Venice, 1752. 8vo. (b) Giornale d' Ital. iii. 374. XVI. A. D. 1518. as it has been said, to the wishes of the author, CHAP. (a)" Impresso in Modena per Dionysio Bertocho nel "anno de la redemptione humana м,CCCC.LXXXXVIII. adi "XIII. de Magio. Imperante lo sapientissimo Hercule "Duca di Ferrara, Modena & Regio. in 4to." This edition is dedicated by the editor to the marquis of Mantua. The dissatisfaction of the author is alluded to by Narni, in his poem Della Morte del Danese, lib. ii. cant. iv. where he represents Tebaldeo, as, "Mesto alquanto dell' opra sua prima.” Zeno, Note al Fontan. Bib. Ital. ii. 52. (b) Tiraboschi, Storia del Lett. Ital. vi. ii. 154. (c) Giornale d'Mal. iii. 376. Tirab. Storia della Lett. Ital. vi. ii. 155. XVI. CHAP, medelli a scholar of Tebaldeo, "whom," says he, speaking of the master, "I greatly esteem, "both for the proficiency which he has made "in useful studies and for his poetical ta"lents."(a) His approbation is also expressed in terms of equal kindness, on recommending Tebaldeo to the office of superintendent of the bridge of Sorga; an employment which probably required no personal attendance, and certainly produced a considerable income, as the pontiff adds as a reason for his interference, "that it might enable Tebaldeo to support "himself in affluence."(b) After the death of A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43, A. Pout. VI. (a)" Qui quidem Domitius alumnus sit Antonii The"baldei, quem ego virum propter ejus præstantem in op"timarum artium studiis doctrinam, pangendisque car"minibus mirificam industriam, unice diligo," Bemb. Ep. nom. Leon. x. lib. ix. Ep. ii. (b) Leo x. P. M. Legalo Avinionensi. "Antonium Thebaldeum, probum hominem atque in bonarum artium, in primisque poetices studiis, tum nos i: tra, tum Latina lingua facile præstantem virum, multos "jam annos unice diligo. Cui cum Portorii munus, quod "in ponte Sorgiæ fluminis est Avinionensis diœceseos Le"gationis tuæ, conferri cupiam, ut eo sese alere ac susten"tare liberaliter possit; peto abs te velis, ut homo egre"gius et excellens, et mihi valde charus eo munere per nos "te libente afficiatur, Dat, nonis Aug. Anno secundo, "Roma." ..... of Leo X. Tebaldeo continued to reside in Rome, but with his great patron he appears to have lost the means of even a competent support, and was obliged to resort to Bembo, A. Pont. VI. who afforded him a temporary assistance.(a) A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. • He lived until the year 1537, and for a considerable time before his death was confined to his bed," having no other complaint," as we are informed by one of his friends, "than the loss of his relish for wine. At the same time he poured forth his epigrams with greater profusion than ever, and was sur"rounded at all hours by his learned friends;" but after the invectives which he had written against the French, some of which we have before had occasion to notice, it may surprise us to hear that he had "become their warm "partisan, and an implacable enemy to the 66 emperor."(b) From the censures of Muratori, who considers Tebaldeo as one of the corrupt ers (a) Bembi. Ep. v. iii. lib. v. Tirabos. Storia della Lett. Ital. vi. ii. 155. CHAP. XVI. (b) "Il Tebaldeo vi si raccommanda. Sta in letto, nè ha altro male che non haver gusto del vino. Fa Epi"grammi più che mai; nè gli manca a tutte l'hore com"C pagnia di letterati. E fatto gran Franceze; inimico dell "Imperatore, implacabile." Girol. Negro à Marc. Ant. Micheli. Lettere di Princ. iii. 38. CHAP. A. D. 1518. A. Æt. 43. ers of the literary taste of the age, (a) he has been defended by several authors, and among the rest by Baruffaldi and Tiraboschi; the latter of whom, although he acknowledges his defects, asserts his claim to rank among the best poets of his time.(b) Not less celebrated for his poetical effusions, and much more distinguished by his exquisite skill (a) Muratori, della perfetta Poesia. lib. iv. ii. 302, 303. (b) "Ma questi difetti medesimi son per avventura nel "Tebaldeo assai più leggieri che in altri; ed ei perciò a "ragione può aver luogo tra' migliori poeti che vivessero a "qui tempi. "Stor. della Let. Ital. vi. ii. 156. Tebaldeo seems, however, to have foreseen the approaching improvement of the Italian language, and the fate of his own productions, as appears from the following lines: "So che molti verran nell' altra etate, "E fien le carte mie forse stracciate." Dolce, Hist. Gym. Fer. ap. Museum Mazzuchell. i. 184. Of the Italian works of Tebaldeo, no complete collection has, I believe, hitherto been published; although the learned Apostolo Zeno, more than half a century since, indicated the sources from which such an edition might be formed. v. Note alla Bibl. Ital. di Fontanini. ii. 55. |