Del Santo Uffizio in Sicilia e delle sue carceri. Giovanna Fiume. La storia. Temi 90. Rome: Viella, 2021. 356 pp. €34.

Abstract

nineteen contributors and the two coeditors that, across the board, all the chapters are written clearly and comprehensively. In short, there is not a single weak chapter—a remarkable feat. Taken as a whole, the volume provides a thorough picture of Pietro Aretino’s literature: his activities of self-promotion through the visual arts, including his friendship with Titian and the circulation of medallions; his satires, beginning in Rome with the voice of Pasquino and his pioneering of pornographic language; his hagiographies and epistolary; his networks of support and rivalries— sometimes violent—with contemporaries. The volume presents a complete composite view of the author’s activities during the sixteenth century. In conclusion, the volume functions as a compendium of the criticism of Aretino, synthesizing the work of many scholars into chapters that are accessible and easy to read. It will serve as a type of one-stop shopping for those wishing to understand the “scourge of princes,” whether in part or in whole. Consequently, the volume will also serve as the starting point for future studies, providing the background necessary upon which future critics can build. Coeditors Marco Faini and Paola Ugolini are to be commended for this major contribution to the field of literary criticism.