Lorenzo Gambara's Caprarola and On Poetic Composition

Text, Translation and Commentary

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In 1569, Lorenzo Gambara published a long verse description of the Farnese palace at Caprarola, which was dedicated to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Twelve years later, this poem was thoroughly revised and considerably lengthened. In the meantime, the aged poet had repudiated the compositions of his youth and repented his lascivious verse. This dramatic change of heart is documented in a Latin treatise in which poets are encouraged to eschew pagan and classical themes in favor of Christian subject matter. This volume presents the first English translation with commentary of the revised poem and the treatise, which is newly ascribed to the Jesuit polymath Antonio Possevino.
Copyright Year:
2025
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978-90-04-12667-1
Publication:
21 Jul 2025
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ISBN:
978-90-04-12558-2
Publication:
24 Jul 2025
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Paul Gwynne, Ph.D. (1990), The Warburg Institute, University of London, is Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The American University of Rome. He is the author of numerous articles and chapters in books as well as a trilogy of monographs that review the production of neo-Latin poetry in Rome from 1480-1600, including Francesco Benci, Quinque Martyres. Introduction, Translation and Commentary (Brill, 2017).
Patrick M. Owens, Ph.D. (2015), Institutum Altioris Latinitatis, Università Pontificia Salesiana, is Distinguished Assistant Professor of Classics at Colgate Univeristy. He is President of the American Association for Neo-Latin Studies and the editor of the journal Neo-Latin News.
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Abbreviations

Introduction—Erat vrbi lavs magna: Toward a Biography of Lorenzo Gambara

Part 1 Tractatio



Lorenzo Gambara and Antonio Possevino
 1 The Tractatio in Context
 2 A Note on the Text and Translation

Tractatio: Text and Translation

Tractatio: Commentary

Part 2 Caprarola



The Farnese Villa and Gardens at Caprarola
 1 Gambara’s Caprarola: Synopsis
 2 Dramatis personae
 3 Pastoral and Epic
 4 Gambara and Virgil
 5 The Revisions to the Second Edition of Caprarola (1581)
 6 A Note on the Verse
 7 A Note on the Typography and the Transcriptions

Caprarola: Text and Translation

Caprarola: Commentary to the Text

Caprarola: Appendices
 Appendix 1: The Room of Hercules, Caprarola (1569), 20:4–27:8
 Appendix 2: Garden Lore, Caprarola (1569), 35:10–30
 Appendix 3: Roma and Fame, Caprarola (1586), 178:31–179:2
 Appendix 4: In adventv svmmi Pont[Ificis] Gregorii XIII ad Arcem Caprarolae; BAV, Vat.lat. 7192, fols. 249v–250v
 Appendix 5: Augurat opera sua fore diuturna
 Appendix 6: Ad Alexandrum Cardinalem Farnesium
 Appendix 7: In fontes hortorvm Caprarolae epigramma (1581)
 Appendix 8: Fountains and Sebastiano Faciuta

Caprarola: Commentary to the Appendices

Bibliography
Index
This volume will interest neo-Latin specialists and literary historians in general, as well as students of social and religious history, the history of art, architecture, gardens and landscape, the history of taste, and related topics.
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