XVII. CHAP. ca, in company with his former pupil, the cardinal Ercole Rangone, whence he addressed to Leo X. an elegiac poem which is conjectured to be the last of his productions;(a) as he died at this place only a short time before the pontiff, in the year 1521.(b) A. D. 1518. A. Pont, VI. A. Et. 43. Of (a) v. Appendix, No. CLXX. (b) Tebaldeo honoured the memory of Postumo with the following epitaph: "Posthumus hic situs est; ne dictum hoc nomine credas Jov. Elog. Ixix. Some time after the death of Postumo, his writings were, at the instance of the cardinal Rangone, collected by his pupil Lodovico Siderostomo, and published at Bologna, in 1524, with a dedication from the editor to Pirro Gonzaga, protonotary of the Roman see. The extreme rarity of this volume, of which very few copies are known to exist, has given rise to conjectures, that the edition was suppressed by some of those persons in power who found themselves attacked by the satirical and pungent style of the author; nor is it unlikely that this circumstance may be attributed to the freedom with which he had treated the Roman pontiffs who preceded Leo X. XVII. A. Et. 43. Of the merit of the writings of Postumo CHAP. very different opinions have been entertained. That they are to be ranked with the polished A. D. 1518. productions of Fracastoro, of Vida,. and of A. Pont. VI. Flaminio, cannot indeed be asserted; but they His writfrequently exhibit passages of considerable ings. merit, and are, on the present occasion, entitled to particular notice, as having preserved 66 This volume is entitled, GUIDI POSTHUMI SILVES TRIS PISAURENSIS ELEGIARUM LIBRI II. CUM GRATIA ET At the close, Impressum Bononiæ per Hieronymum de Benedictis Biblio- to "Questa edizione," says Bonamini," in brevissimo. tempo tanto rara divenne, che appena a giorni nostri un esemplare se ne conserva fortunatamente nella nostra "patria, avutasi non è gran tempo dalla pubblica Biblioteca "di Perugia dall' eruditissimo Sig. Uditore Passeri; e “due altri, che io sappia in Roma, nella Libraria Ales"sandrina, non contando fra questi i tre codici, che nella "Vaticana si conservano." Memor. Istoriche di Guido Posth. p. 25. CHAP. to us many circumstances of the private life and character of Leo X. XVII. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI. Giovanni Among those who contributed by their wit and vivacity to the amusement of the pontiff in Mozzarello. his hours of leisure was Giovanni Mozzarello, a native of Mantua; but Leo had sufficient discernment to perceive that Mozzarello, although very young, possessed superior talents, which amidst his apparent negligence he had cultivated with uncommon application. By his cheerful and friendly disposition and the facility and elegance which he displayed both in his Latin and Italian writings, he conciliated in an eminent degree the favour of almost all the eminent scholars who then adorned the Roman court. (a) After having for some time observed his character and experienced his attachment, Leo removed him from the dissipation of the city and appointed him governor of the fortress of Mondaino, the income of which office afforded him an ample competency, (a) Bembo, writing to Ottaviano Fregoso, denominates him, "Magnæ spei adolescens, ut scis, aut etiam majoris "quam quod scire possis. Magis enim magisque sese in "dies comparat, cum ad mores optimos, et ad omnem vir"tutem, tum ad poetices studia, ad quæ natus præcipue vi"detur." Ep. Fam. lib. v. Ep. vii. XVII. competency, with sufficient leisure for the CHAP. prosecution of his studies.(a) In this situation he undertook an epic poem entitled Porsenna, which he was probably prevented from terminating by an untimely and calamitous death; having been found, after he had been sought for in vain upwards of a month, suffocated, with his mule, at the bottom of a well;(b) a circumstance which confirmed the suspicions before entertained, that his death. was occasioned by the barbarity and resentment of those persons over whom he was appointed to preside. This event affected his numerous friends with real sorrow; and Bembo in particular, has, in several letters to the cardinal da Bibbiena, lamented his fate in terms of the warmest affection and the sin cerest (a) Mutius Arelius Mantuanus, magno et eleganti "juvenis ingenio, lingua prius nostri temporis Italica sese "exercuit; mox latinam affectans jam adultus, brevi admo"dum temporis curriculo magnum poetam professus est; 66 quam juvenis promptitudinem admiratus LEO X. ne tali "deesset ingenio, arci eum Mondulphiæ præfecit, quem lo66 cum Arelius studiis suis necessaria ubertim suppedita"turum arbitrabatur." Valerian. de Literator. infel. lib. i. p. 34. (b) Valer. ut supra. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI. XVII. CHAP. cerest regret.(a) cerest regret. (a) Under the name of Mutius Arelius, by which he chose to distinguish himself, Mozzarello produced several works, some of which are yet preserved in the Italian libraries, (b) whilst others, as well Latin as Italian, have been published in different collections and are entitled to no inconsiderable share of approbation.(c) A. D. 1518. A. Poat. VI. A. Et. 43. (a)" Monsignor mio, sapete bene ch'io temo grande(6 mente che 'l nostro povero Muzarello sia stato morto da "quelli di Mondaino; perciocchè da un mese in quà, esso non si truova in luogo alcuno; solo si sa che si partì di "quella maledetta Rocca temendo di quelli uomini, e fu 66 nascosamente. Non mancò già, che io non gli predices66 si questo, che Dio voglia non gli sia avvenuto. O infelice "giovane non lo avessi io mai conosciuto, se tanto e sì "raro ingegno si dovea spegnere così tosto e in tal modo." Bembo Ep. al Card. da Bibbiena. in op. tom. iii. p. 10. The (b) In the ducal library of Modena is a work of Mozzarello, written by him whilst very young, in the manner of the Arcadia of Sanazzaro, and dedicated to Elizabetta Gonzaga duchess of Urbino. v. Tirab. Storia della Let. Ital. vol. vii. par. iii. p. 233. (c) Ariosto has immortalized him, by enumerating him the great scholars of the age. among "Uno elegante Castiglione, e un culto Orl. Fur. Cant. 42. st. 87. |
