Bernardo Accolti (September 11, 1465March 1, 1536) was an Italian

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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

. He was born at

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea lev ...

, the son of Benedetto Accolti. Known in his own day as ''l'Unico Aretino'', he acquired great fame as a reciter of

impromptu An impromptu (, , loosely meaning "offhand") is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ''ex tempore'' improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. According to ''Allgeme ...

verse. He was listened to by large crowds, composed of the most learned men and the most distinguished prelates of the age. Among others, Cardinal

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, ( la, Petrus Bembus; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was an Italian scholar, poet, and literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the ...

left on record a testimony to his extraordinary talent. He was so highly regarded and received such lavish remuneration by

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

that he was able to buy the

Duchy of Nepi A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

. It is probable that he succeeded better in his extemporaneous productions than in those which were the fruit of deliberation. His works, under the title ''Virginia'', ''Comedia'', ''Capitoli e Strambotti di Messer Bernardo Accolti Aretino'', were published at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

in 1513, and have been reprinted several times.

Notes

References

* Jonathan Unglaub, “Bernardo Accolti, Raphael’s ''Parnassus'' and a New Portrait by Andrea Del Sarto,” ''Burlington Magazine'' CXLIX (January 2007): 14–22.

External links

*
Verginia : comedia di m. Bernardo Accolti Aretino, intitolata la Verginia : con un capitolo della Madonna (1535)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accolti 1465 births 1536 deaths Italian poets Italian male poets People from Arezzo