De viris illustribus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the literary genre. For a list of works with this title, see List of works entitled De viris illustribus.
A copy of De viris illustribus printed by Nicolas Jenson about 1474

De Viris Illustribus, meaning "concerning illustrious men", represents a

exemplary literature of Ancient Rome
. It inspired the widespread commissioning of groups of matching portraits of famous men from history (Uomini Famosi) to serve as moral role models.

With its inception in the circle of Cicero,[1] various ancient works bear the titles De Viris Illustribus or De hominibus illustribus, including:

During the Middle Ages the inspirational series took two paths: the specifically Christian models were enshrined in hagiography, in which miracles attracted the attention and the qualities exemplified by martyrs were those of fortitude, faith and obedience. On the secular side, the worldly models were contracted and codified in the Nine Worthies, chivalric exemplars of valiant courtoisie, the instructive models of aristocratic courtly behavior.[3] The literary biographies were reflected in illustrated versions in illuminated manuscripts, tapestry and other media.

With the revival of classical learning in the

De mulieribus claris ("On Famous Women"), containing 106 biographies. Leonardo Bruni published translations of Plutarch
's Lives.

The

Azzo Visconti in Milan, and was mentioned by Giorgio Vasari, but is now lost, together with a series in Naples, but important early series of portraits of famous men survive in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena[8] and in the Sala Virorum Illustrium ("Hall of Illustrious Men") (or Sala dei Giganti[9]
) in the Reggia Carrarese, Padua.

The

Uffizi Gallery
in Florence.

The genre continues today, not so much in universal biographical dictionaries, which verge on factual prosopography, but in collections of inspirational biographies such as Profiles in Courage.

Notes

  1. ^ Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, "The Early Beginnings of the Notion of "Uomini Famosi" and the "De Viris Illustribus" in Greco-Roman Literary Tradition", Artibus et Historiae 3.6 (1982), pp. 97-115.
  2. Hyginus
    .
  3. ^ Horst Shroeder, Der topos der Nine Worthies in Literatur und bildender Kunst (Göttingen) 1971 is the standard survey.
  4. ^ Theodor E. Mommsen, "Petrarch and the decoration of the Sala Virorum Illustrium in Padua", Art Bulletin 34 (1952) pp 95-116.
  5. ^ The early 15th-century frescos of famous men in the Palazzo Trincio, Foligno are discussed by Mario Salvi, "Gli affreschi del Palazzo Trincio a Foligno" Bolettino d'arte 12 (1919) pp 139-80 (noted by Joost-Gaugier).
  6. ^ Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, "Poggio and Visual Tradition: 'Uomini Famosi' in Classical Literary Description" Artibus et Historiae 6.12 (1985), pp. 57-74, p. 57f
  7. ^ Quoted in Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier, "Poggio and Visual Tradition: 'Uomini Famosi' in Classical Literary Description" Artibus et Historiae 6.12 (1985), pp. 57-74; Bracciolini is quoted p 58.
  8. ^ Nicolai Rubinstein, "Political ideas in Sienese art: the frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Taddeo di Bartolo in the Palazzo Pubblico", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 21 (1958) pp 179-207.
  9. ^ "La Sala dei Giganti dalla Reggia Carrarese a Palazzo Liviano" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-14.
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