Aretino’s “Simple” Religious Prose: Literary Features, Doctrinal and Moral Contents, Evolution

International audienceIn 1551 and 1552, Pietro Aretino had his religious works re-edited and printed in Venice by Paolo Manuzio. The author dedicated them to Pope Julius III in the hope of obtaining a cardinal’s hat. What was at stake, the culmination of a career spent in Venice without renouncing to be rewarded by Rome, justified this ambitious editorial project, which consisted in offering, during the Tridentine period, a set of six religious works published for the first time between 1534 and 1543. This contribution first underlines the importance of Aretino’s religious works in his oeuvre and career. Secondly, concentrating on the biblical paraphrases, it shows their significance in the landscape of Italian religious literature. Thirdly, it deals with the issue of the evolution of Aretino’s religious prose from the “biblical” to the “hagiographic” works, paying attention to some neglected literary and religious elements of continuity. The contribution illustrates that the ideal of biblical “simplicity”, which cannot be interpreted as a mere excuse used as a defence against the accusation of being ignorant, simultaneously resonates with Erasmus’ philosophy of Christ, Valdés’ teaching about individual enlightenment, Ochino’s but also Musso’s preaching, in different ways centered on Christ and connected to the Scriptures, the doctrine of the infinite mercy of God but also that of the value of sacraments and good works. In the same way, a plurality of inspirations characterizes the literary profile of a production that concomitantly refers to different genres from the spiritual meditation to the historical compendium, from the Gospel harmony to the sacred poem, and from the sacra rappresentazione to the sermon, offering the reader an enjoyable and polyvalent text