- Alessandro Piccolomini
Alessandro Piccolomini (
June 13 ,1508 -March 12 ,1579 ) was an Italian humanist and philosopher fromSiena , who promoted the popularization in the vernacular of Latin and Greek scientific and philosophical treatises. His early works include "Il Dialogo della bella creanza delle donne, o Raffaella" (1539) and the comedies "Amor costante", and "Alessandro", (other titles are erroneously attributed to him) which were sponsored and produced by the Sienese Accademia degl'Intronati, of which he was a member and an official. Much of his literary production consisted of translations from the Classics, of which Book xiii of Ovid'sMetamorphoses and book vi of theAeneid are early examples. In 1540, while a student at the University of Padua, he helped found the Infiammati Academy, in which he gave lectures in philosophy. (He never taught at the University of Padua, as is often stated incorrectly.) His poetry, in which he followed the Petrarchan tradition, appeared first in various contemporary collections, and in 1549 he published as a single volume one hundred sonnets titled "Cento sonetti". Later in life, he translated Aristotle's Poetics on which he wrote a learned commentary issued in 1575. His interest in Aristotle included the publication of a paraphrase of Aristotle's Rhetoric with commentary. In his "Trattato della grandezza della terra e dell' acqua" (1558), he opposed the Aristotelean and Ptolemaic opinion that water was more extensive than land.The treatises "Sfera del mondo e Delle stelle fisse" (The sphere of the world and The fixed stars) (1540), in which he adhered to Ptolemaic theories, were some of his major contributions to the field of astronomy. He also wrote, at the behest of Cosimo de Medici, a proposal for reforming the
calendar (1578). In 1574 Pope Gregory XIII appointed himtitular bishop of Patras (Patrae).His comedy "Alessandro" was adapted by
George Chapman into "May Day" (printed 1611).The important lunar crater Piccolomini is named after him.
See also
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Piccolomini References
*"This article incorporates text from the 1913 "
Catholic Encyclopedia " article " [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12073c.htm Alessandro Piccolomini] " by U. Benigni, a publication now in thepublic domain ."
*cite book|first=F.|last=Cerreta|title=Alessandro Piccolomini|location=Siena|year=1960External links
* [http://www.bo.astro.it/~biblio/atlas/picco01n.jpgPiccolomini: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor]
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