Triumphs

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Triumphs
1450 illuminated manuscript of Trionfi illustrated by Ricciardo di Nanni
AuthorFrancesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
Original titleTrionfi
LanguageTuscan
GenrePoetry
Publication date
1351–1374
Original text
Trionfi at Italian Wikisource

Triumphs (

Tuscan language. The poem evokes the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were led in procession by the captives and spoils they had taken in war. This was a popular and influential poem series when it was published.[1]

Composed over more than twenty years, the poetry is written in

cassoni
and the like.

The ancient Roman triumph survived the Middle Ages in various forms, and was used as a literary device with the entrance of Beatrice in the Commedia.[3]

Structure

The poem is structured in six allegorical triumphs. The triumphs are concatenated, so that the Triumph of Love (over Mankind and even gods) is itself triumphed over by another allegorical force, the Triumph of Chastity. In its turn, Chastity is triumphed over by Death; Death is overcome by Fame; Fame is conquered by Time; and even Time is ultimately overcome by Eternity, the triumph of God over all such worldly concerns.

Francesco Pesellino: The first three Triumphs of Love, Chastity and Death, 1450
Francesco Pesellino: The last three Triumphs of Fame, Time, and Eternity, 1450
Two of the triumphal cars, carrying Chastity and Love, from a lavish illuminated manuscript copy (early 16th century).
Giacomo Borlone de Buschis: Trionfo e danza della morte, 1485
Zanobi Strozzi: Trionfo della fama, c. 1440-1445
Cristoforo Majorana: Trionfo dell'Eternità, 1490. Four Evangelists draw a cart with a Gnadenstuhl representation of the Trinity above Petrarca's first lines of the poem.

Triumphus Cupidinis: Triumph of Love

One spring day in

Venus
was born.

Although only Love is described in the text as riding on a car or chariot, it became normal for illustrators to give them to all the main figures.[4]

Triumphus Pudicitie: Triumph of Chastity

Love is defeated by

Honor, Prudence and Modesty, as well as chaste heroines including Lucretia, Penelope, and Dido. Love's captives are freed and Love is bound to a column and chastised. The triumphant celebration culminates in Rome, in the Temple of Patrician Chastity
.

Triumphus Mortis: Triumph of Death

Returning from the battle, the victorious host encounters a furious woman dressed in black, who reveals a countryside littered with the corpses of once proud people from all times and places, including emperors and popes. This personification of Death plucks a golden hair from Laura's head. Laura dies an idealised death, but returns from heaven to comfort the poet, who asks when they will be reunited in one of the most significant passages of the poem. She replies that he will survive her a long time.

Triumphus Famae: Triumph of Fame

Death departs and after Death comes Fame. Her appearance is compared to the dawn. She is attended by

Dante
.

Triumphus Temporis: Triumph of Time

Time is represented by the sun, chasing the dawn and racing across the sky, jealous and scornful of the fame of mortals. In an elegy on the fickleness of Fame the poet concludes that it will always eventually be followed by oblivion, the "second death".

Triumphus Eternitatis: Triumph of Eternity

Petrarch finds consolation in the almighty God and the prospect of being reunited with Laura in heaven and timeless eternity. Eternity is not represented allegorically.

Analysis

Triumphs examines the ideal course of a man from sin to redemption: A theme with roots in medieval culture, being typical of works like Roman de la Rose or the Divine Comedy. Petrarch's work invites comparison with Dante's, from the structural point of view (having adopted Dante's terza rima meter) as well as for its treatment of an allegorical voyage.

Triumphs shares and builds on numerous themes of Petrarca's

Canzoniere
, such as the confrontation of death, as in the sonnet Movesi il vecchierel canuto e bianco ("Grizzled and white the old man leaves"), and the spiritualization of his love for Laura.

Criticism

Triumphs is appreciated for its lyrical achievements and the poet's vivid introspection into his feelings. On the other hand, it has been criticized for the mechanical rigidity of its narrative in contrast to the more natural style of the Canzoniere, and the long enumerations of notable persons which often sap its vitality.

Notes

References