Cesare Pascarella (28 April 18588 May 1940), was an
Italian dialect poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and a painter. He was appointed to the
Royal Academy of Italy
The Royal Academy of Italy () was a short-lived Italian academy of the Italian Fascism, Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was effectively dissolved in ...
in 1930.
Biography
Pascarella was born in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
on 28 April 1858. He began his career as a journalist and illustrator for the Rome-based ''Capitan Fracassa'' and ''Fanfulla della domenica''. His literary activity began in 1881 with the publication of
sonnets
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
in
Romanesco dialect. In the same period he made friends with
Gabriele D'Annunzio. His first works of note, ''Er morto de campagna'' (1881) and ''La serenata'' (1882), were short narrative sonnet cycles, both in dialect, and with a darkly realistic colouring. The twenty-five sonnets of ''Villa Gloria'' (1886) retell a celebrated episode of the
Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...
, the defeat of the Cairoli brothers just outside Rome, from the point of view of a plebeian Roman. The collection was hailed as a masterwork by
Giosuè Carducci , who thought that Pascarella had raised dialect poetry to an epic level.
But Pascarella's best-known work is ''La scoperta dell'America'' (1894), an account of
Columbus' voyage, which is both shrewdly humorous and deeply nationalistic. Pascarella spent the later part of his life working on ''Storia nostra'', a sonnet sequence with epic pretensions, which aimed to narrate, through the language of a simple inhabitant of Rome, the history of the city from its origins to the present. The 267 sonnets which he completed were published posthumously in 1941. Pascarella founded in 1904 with other artists, among which
Giuseppe Ferrari, the group "XXV della campagna romana".
Pascarella was an impressive reciter of his verse and highly rated as a poet in his lifetime. He was elected a member of the
Royal Academy of Italy
The Royal Academy of Italy () was a short-lived Italian academy of the Italian Fascism, Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was effectively dissolved in ...
(now
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...
) in 1930. Pascarella's papers, his library, photographs, paintings and drawings were purchased by the Royal Academy of Italy in 1940. The body is entirely ordered.
[D. Armocida, ''Il Fondo di Cesare Pascarella: storia e documenti'', Roma, Scienze e lettere editore, 2011, pp. 323-348 (from: «Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filologiche. Rendiconti», Serie IX, Vol. XXI, Fasc. 1-2, 2010).]
Works
* ''Er morto de campagna'' (1881, sonnets)
* ''La serenata'' (1883, sonnets)
* ''Er fattaccio'' (1884, sonnets)
* ''Villa Glori'' (1886, sonnets)
* ''Cose der monno'' (1887)
* ''L'allustra scarpe'' (1887, philosophy)
* ''La scoperta dell'America'' (1893, sonnets)
* ''I sonetti'' (1900, sonnets)
* ''Le prose'' (1920, prose works)
* ''Viaggio in Ciociaria'' (1920)
Posthumous publications:
* ''Storia nostra''
* ''Taccuini'' (published in 1961 by the
Accademia dei Lincei
The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...
)
* ''Storia nostra'' (published in 1961 by the
Accademia dei Lincei
The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...
)
See also
*
Romanesco dialect
References
Bibliography
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External links
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1858 births
1940 deaths
19th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
20th-century Italian painters
Painters from Rome
Members of the Royal Academy of Italy
Italian male poets
19th-century Italian male artists
20th-century Italian male artists
Burials at Campo Verano
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