Vincenzo da Filicaja

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Vincenzo da Filicaja
Vincenzo da Filicaja
Born(1642-12-30)30 December 1642
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died24 September 1707(1707-09-24) (aged 64)
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Resting placeSanta Croce, Florence
Other namesPolibo Emonio
Alma materUniversity of Pisa
Occupations
  • Poet
  • Intellectual
  • Civil Servant
Spouse
Anna Capponi
​
(m. 1673)​
Children3
Parent(s)Braccio da Filicaja
Caterina di Cristofano Spini
Writing career
LanguageItalian, Latin
Signature

Vincenzo da Filicaja (30 December 1642 – 24 September 1707) was an italian poet and politician, citizen of Grand Duchy of Tuscany. His poetry was compared to that of Petrarch, and his association with the Accademia della Crusca gave him access to royal patronage. He served as governor of Volterra and Pisa, successively, and finally in the Tuscan Senate.

Biography

Vincenzo

da Filicaja was born in Florence to a prominent aristocratic family. From an incidental notice in one of his letters, stating the amount of house rent paid during his childhood, his parents must have been in easy circumstances, and the supposition is confirmed by the fact that he enjoyed all the advantages of a liberal education, first under the Jesuits of Florence, and then in the University of Pisa.[1] At Pisa
he studied law.

After five years in Pisa, he returned to Florence, where he married Anna, daughter of the senator and marquis Scipione Capponi, and withdrew to a small villa at "Al Filicaja" (he always referred to Al Filicaja with the former name of "Figline"), not far from the city. Abjuring the thought of writing amatory poetry due to the premature death of a young lady to whom he had been attached, he occupied himself chiefly with literary pursuits, above all the composition of Italian and Latin poetry. He was a member of the celebrated Accademia della Crusca and had good relations with the patrons of the Capponi family. At this academy he befriended Lorenzo Magalotti, Benedetto Menzini, Gori and Francesco Redi. The latter, author of Bacchus in Tuscany, was influential in gaining Filicaja access to court patronage.[1]

Filicaja's rural seclusion was due to his limited means than to his rural tastes. But his poetical genius was fired by the

Christina, the ex-queen of Sweden, who, from her circle of savants and courtiers at Rome, spontaneously and generously announced to Filicaja her wish to bear the expense of educating his two sons, enhancing her kindness by the delicate request that it should remain a secret.[2]

Filicaja's fortunes now improved. In 1691 he became a member of the

Cosimo III, conferred on him an important office, the commissionership of official balloting. He was named governor of Volterra in 1696, where he strenuously exerted himself to improve public morality. Both there and at Pisa, where he was subsequently governor in 1700, his popularity was so great that on his removal the inhabitants of both cities petitioned for his recall. He passed the close of his life at Florence; the grand duke raised him to the rank of senator, and he died in that city. He was buried in the family vault in the church of San Pietro in Florence, and a monument was erected to his memory by his sole surviving son Scipione Filicaja.[3]

Assessment

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition:

In the six celebrated odes inspired by the great victory of

Seicentisti. When thoroughly natural and spontaneousas in the two sonnets Italia, Italia, o tu cui feo la sorte and Dove, Italia, il tuo braccio? e a che ti serve; in the verses Alla beata Vergine, Al divino amore; in the sonnet Sulla fede nelle disgrazie the truth and beauty of thought and language recall the verses of Petrarch.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 342.
  2. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 342–343.
  3. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 343.

Bibliography

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Filicaja, Vincenzo da". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 342–343.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Vincenzo da Filicaja". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Lastri, Marco (1774). Elogi degli uomini illustri toscani. Vol. 4. pp. 575–579.

External links

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