Ippolito Pindemonte (November 13, 1753 – November 18, 1828) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

poet. He was an exponent of Italian

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

and pre-romanticism, with poems of the

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

genre and related to graveyard poets style.

Biography

Ippolito Pindemonte was born in Verona on 13 November 1753 into an

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

family. His brother Giovanni Pindemonte was a prominent dramatist. He was educated at the Collegio di San Carlo in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

and became a close friend of the mathematician and translator Giuseppe Torelli (1721–1781) and the scholar Girolamo Pompei. He travelled to Rome in 1780 where he entered the Arcadia as ''Polidete Melpomenio''. He wrote a first tragedy, ''Ulisse'', in 1777, which was followed by others, and by various poems and translations. In 1788–90 he visited

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, drawing on his experiences for a novel, ''Abaritte'' (1790). He was deeply affected by the French Revolution, residing in Paris for ten months during 1789. A brief flirtation with revolutionary ideas led to ''La Francia'' (1790), but he rejected the results of the

reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

and fleed to Italy. He withdrew from politics and spent much of the rest of his life in his villa near Verona.

Work

A Romantic poet, he was principally influenced by his friend

Ugo Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Ionia ...

and

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

, and was associated with the

Della Cruscans The Della Cruscans were a circle of European late-18th-century sentimental poets founded by Robert Merry (1755–98). History and influence Robert Merry travelled to Florence where he edited two volumes, ''The Arno Miscellany'' (1784) and ''T ...

. He devoted much of his life to a translation of the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', which was published in 1822. During his career he tried various styles of poetry in his efforts to achieve formal perfection, from the narrative of ''Gibilterra salvata'' (1782) to the discursive ''Epistole in versi'' (1804) and ''Sermoni'' (1819). He finds his own pre-Romantic voice best in rustic poetry, publishing a first ''Saggio di poesie campestri'' in 1788. Though he abandoned his ''Cimiteri'' when he learnt of the imminent publication of '' Dei Sepolcri'' (which Foscolo dedicated to him), the unfinished poem was published with Foscolo's in a single volume in 1807. From 1805 to 1819 he worked on his remarkable translation of the ''Odyssey'' (1822), which, rather than epic verve, displays the combination of melancholy and classical grace characteristic of pre-Romantic poetry. Pindemonte is also the author of the short poem ''La melanconia'' ("Melancholy"), set to music by

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

in the arietta ''Malinconia, Ninfa gentile''.

Pindemonte and Villa Mosconi Bertani

Ippolito Pindemonte has been resident for many years in

Villa Mosconi Bertani The Villa Mosconi Bertani (also known as Villa Novare) is a Neoclassical winery and manor in the Veneto region of Italy famous for its heritage in the production of Amarone della Valpolicella wine. It is located in the municipality of Negrar d ...

where he was involved in the design of the romantic park, a typical

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

also inspired by the ideas of

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

and the design of René de Girardin.

Works

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * 1753 births 1828 deaths Italian poets Italian male poets Italian translators Writers from Verona {{Italy-poet-stub